The plan to ground activities at the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) on Monday may have been suspended, following a truce reached by the management of FAAN and the unions.
A source close to the unions told our correspondent that the FAAN management had called the leading union leaders; National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) to a peace meeting on Saturday.
At the meeting, which was held at the FAAN’s Lagos office at the Murtala Muhammed Airport (MMA), Lagos at 11a.m, the unions vehemently kicked against the alleged non-remittance of staff’s dues to their various cooperative societies, going to about eight months.
The unions further claimed that the management was yet to remit to them the unions’ dues deducted from the staff in the last two months, while also kicking against the plan of the management not to pay the staff 13th month salary.
It was gathered that the FAAN’s management was able to convince the unions and the workers about its plan to continue to discharge its responsibilities to its staff and promised to improve on their welfare in the next coming months.
After the meeting, the unions agreed to shelve Monday’s protest.
The union source said: “The impending rally against some policies of the government and FAAN’s management will not hold again on Monday. FAAN management met with us today (Saturday) to discuss the issues raised. So, we are giving them the benefit of the doubt.
“Some of our agitations include the 13th month salary, which we learnt may not be paid by the management, cooperative society money, which is consistently deducted by the management, but not remitted to the appropriate quarters.
“Also, unions’ dues are not remitted to the appropriate quarters by the agency’s management. But, we were able to reach an accord on some of these issues.”
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The unions had threatened on Thursday to protest against the management of FAAN over the alleged non-remittance of cooperative funds of the staff to their different cooperative societies, going to about six months.
Besides, the unions had planned to protest against the insistence of the Federal Government to go ahead with the concession of four airports in the first phase of the exercise, despite the voices against the plan by various bodies in the sector.
The unions had also insisted on the payment of palliative to staff who worked during the Covid-19 lockdown, payment of leave grant, stoppage of all forms of employment into the organisation until concession issues are resolved and immediate remodeling of the Murtala Mohammed Airport Access gate facilities to improve and maximise revenue collection.
