Flights resume operations across Nigeria as airport workers suspend strike

By Mark Ogagan

Employees of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) have called off the strike they embarked upon on Tuesday, April 22, to express their grievance over their welfare.

The suspension of the strike followed the Federal Government’s intervention on Thursday, April 24.

The NiMet workers had commenced an indefinite strike action on Wednesday to protest poor working conditions, grounding flight operations across the country.

The workers had accused the NiMet management of failing to implement the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among others.

In a bid to address the concerns, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo (Pictured), on Thursday, met with stakeholders in the aviation sector, including the heads of aviation agencies, alongside leaders of key aviation unions, where the issues were resolved, and the workers agreed to return to work.

Other stakeholders said to be in attendance were the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, and the National Union of Air Transport Employees, among others.

The workers had accused the NiMet management of failing to implement the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among others.

The strike action lingered for two days and left passengers on scheduled local flights stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, and other airports.

It caused confusion and anger as Air Peace suspended all its flight operations nationwide on Wednesday following the strike.

The airline, in a statement issued on Wednesday, stated that due to the NiMet workers’ strike and the unavailability of QNH (hazardous weather) reports required for safe landings, suspending all its flight operations nationwide until the strike was over was for safety and a top priority.