On Wednesday, Nigerian aviation unions gave its members orders to stop providing services to all commercial and private Owerri aircraft (both inbound and outbound) at midnight.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) have the authority to order an end to the strike, according to the unions.
The Association of Nigeria Aviation, the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) are the unions.
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professionals (ANAP), the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).
The aviation unions’ instruction complied with the Tuesday joint session of the NLC and TUC’s National Executive Council (NEC).
Just before a scheduled demonstration in the state to pressure the state government to heed the demands of the workers in the state, NLC President Joe Ajaero was attacked in Owerri, the capital of Imo State, last Wednesday.
Since then, in retaliation for the attack on Ajaero, the NLC and the TUC have ordered the suspension of vital services in Imo and announced a statewide strike that would begin on November 14, 2023.
The five bodies instructed its members to stop providing services to all planes departing from and arriving at Owerri on Wednesday in a notice of strike sent to aviation employees.
The strike notice was co-signed by Ocheme Aba, the general secretary of NUATE; AbdulRasaq Saidu, the secretary general of ANAP; Umoh Ofonime, the deputy general secretary of NAAPE; and Sikiru Waheed, the general secretary of AUPCTRE.
Additionally, as instructed by NLC and TUC, all aviation employees at Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri, are now ordered to remain at home, effective as of midnight on this day, August 11, 2023.
The managements of the airports, the airlines that operate into and out of Owerri, the intended passengers entering and leaving the airport, and the general public are thus alerted of this circumstance so as to be forewarned by this notification.