Bi-Courtney dispute: Aviation unions threaten to extend picketing to other terminals

The unions in the aviation sector on Thursday threatened to ground flight operations at all terminals of the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos over the sacking of their members by Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL).

 
The unions issued the warning on the second day of their ongoing picketing of MMA2, operated by BASL, whose management allegedly sacked 24 employees for indicating interest to unionise. The unions are:

The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE).

As early as 6:30am, the union members in their hundreds continued their siege at both the entry and exit points of MMA2, which is Nigeria’s only privately owned terminal.

However, the BASL management barricaded the two entry and exit points with trucks while some security operatives were seen with sniffer dogs to prevent the protesters from gaining access into the terminal building.

The protesters were seen carrying different placards with different inscriptions such as “We the victimised Bi-Courtney ATSSSAN branch, Say No to Slavery, Injustice, and Victimisation, While we Say Yes To Unionism, Good Working Condition and Job Security”.

Others inscriptions were “Unionism must stand in Bi-Courtney”, “Babalakin is not above the law”, “A case of a Nigerian enslaving Nigerians”, “No to One Month Salary as Gratuity in Bi-Courtney”.

The protest also caused heavy vehicular traffic around the airport, which affected other parts of Ikeja and the Agege Motor Road.

Airlines affected by the action included Arik Air, Medview Airline, Azman Air, Max Air, Dana Air and Aero Contractors, which operate flights from the terminal.

There was heavy presence of security operatives including the Police and officers of the Nigeria Air Force in the area during the protest.

Speaking on behalf of the unions, Mr Frances Akinjole, Deputy General Secretary, ATSSSAN, told NAN that the unions were ready to shutdown other terminals at Lagos Airport if the company refused to recall the affected workers.

Akinjole said from the situation on ground, the BASL management was not ready to dialogue with the unions on the issue of the sacked workers.

“The present protest is the only option left for us but as you can see now, our protest is not even yielding any result because the management has decided to barricaded their own company with two heavy trucks by themselves.