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| Scene of the protest |
Air Peace employees have publicly distanced themselves from the ongoing picketing by aviation industry unions, saying they are not part of the industrial action that has disrupted flights to and from Abuja and Lagos.
A workers’ spokesman, Comrade Aminu Suleiman, said staff at West Africa’s and Nigeria’s largest airline have always had a voice in the company and therefore did not need to join the industrial unions.
“In the 12 years since the inception of Air Peace, employees of the airline had always had a voice in the running of the company and had no need to join the industrial union,” he said.
Suleiman emphasised that membership in a trade union is a personal choice protected by the constitution.
“We can choose to join or not. It’s not by force. Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, guarantees the freedom of association,” he said.
He also pointed to the Trade Union Congress rules, noting the voluntary nature of union membership. “Section 12 of the Trade Union Congress (TUC) constitution also specifically states that membership of the union is voluntary,” he added.
The workers said they feel no need for union representation because they already receive the benefits unions typically seek from the airline’s management.
“What do we need unionism for? For 12 years, we have been getting our salaries regularly. We have HMO. The airlines that were unionised, where are they today? They had no HMO, and the unions could not secure severance benefits for them,” Suleiman said, to a rousing applause from the workers.
The Air Peace workers also accused unions of creating a rift between employers and employees for their own benefit.
They maintained that their decision not to participate in the ongoing picketing was deliberate and urged the public not to associate them with the industrial action.
The workers stressed that they were satisfied with the existing channels through which they engage with the airline’s management and believed that their interests were being adequately protected.
It would be recalled that an industrial action by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) has resulted in the barricading of the entrances to the departure terminals at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Terminal 1 (Alpha and Zulu Terminals) and Terminal 2 in Lagos, as well as the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Terminal in Abuja.
The action has effectively grounded airline operations at the affected airports, leaving passengers stranded and disrupting scheduled flights.
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