The Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has warned aviation unions against threatening strikes over conditions of service.
Mr. Sirika said the sector was in a recovery mode, therefore, not the time for threats of industrial actions.
Mr. Sirika stated that the challenge provided by COVID-19 required all parties to collaborate in order to carve out a sustainable path to a robust aviation business that will provide everyone, including employees, with the needed dividends.
The minister was speaking at the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association (ATSSSAN )’s national delegates’ conference in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State.
Mr Sirika, who was represented by Akin Olateru, Commissioner of the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), said the unions should work with aviation agencies.
He said: “We are in a period of recovery, so this is not the time for threats and spate of industrial actions which will only further inhibit the growth the industry so badly needs.
“The pandemic hit and aviation became one of the major casualties of COVID-19 and in an industry that is known for low margins, especially the airline sector where labour is one of the largest cost, lowering labour costs is very attractive.
“IATA records show that as at 2018, air transport in Nigeria supported 241,000 jobs with a gross value added to GDP of US $1.7b.
“The growth forecast for the Nigeria Air Transport market was 174% in the next 20 years. If met, this would support approximately $4.7 billion of GDP and over 555,000 jobs.”
The minister stated that unions played a key role in the aviation industry’s growth and survival because their members made up the bulk of the workforce.
