Business activities may be totally grounded on Monday as the aviation unions have directed all workers nationwide to embark on peaceful rallies and public demonstrations across the country’s airports.

The unions in the directive issued and copied to the Commissioner of Police, Airports Command and the Directorate of State Security Service had declared: “All aviation workers nationwide are hereby directed to embark on peaceful rallies and public demonstrations at all airports in Nigeria in demand for the expunging of obnoxious essential services clauses from the bills/Acts of the aviation agencies.

“All branches of the unions should make their internal arrangements to ensure full compliance with this directive.”

The unions include the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP), the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) have called for the removal of the obnoxious bill or face a total halt of business actives including flights operations from Monday.

The unions had earlier condemned what they called the “obnoxious” provisions in the newly signed Civil Aviation Act (CAA) which gives the Minister of Aviation express power to prohibit trade union activities.

The new Civil Aviation Act which was last week signed into law out of the six aviation bills by President Muhamadu Buhari was discovered by the unions to have contained provisions classifying aviation agencies as rendering essential services while empowering the minister to prohibit industrial action by unions.

The unions in the 14-day ultimatum given the federal government had insisted that if at the expiration of the ultimatum, the anomaly in the obnoxious bill had not been corrected that there will be a total shutdown of the sector.

“As far as we are concerned, the matter rested at that, as no member of the public, in particular, canvassed any such position. More disturbingly, the subject of essential services did not feature in any of the deliberations of either Committees of the National Assembly in the course of making any of the six Bills in question as the National Assembly records show.”

The unions, however, called for an investigation into how the clauses were smuggled into the bills transmitted to the president, insisting that the clauses, which conflict heavily with prevailing national and international laws cannot find a hiding place in the aviation conclave.

“Let it be placed on record that the consequence of a bad law is that the law cannot be implemented, or will be disobeyed. To demonstrate our resolve against this brazen effort to totally obliterate aviation unions, we have directed all our state organs to carry out peaceful public demonstrations at all airports nationwide on Monday the 12th of September 2022.

“For all intents and purposes, the above-stated provisions represent an effort at repression and oppression. As far as we are concerned, the matter rested at that, as no member of the public, in particular, canvassed any such position.

“More disturbingly, the subject of essential services did not feature in any of the deliberations of either Committees of the National Assembly in the course of making any of the six Bills in question as the National Assembly records show.”

The unions however called for an investigation into how the clauses were smuggled into the bills transmitted to the President, insisting that the clauses, which conflict heavily with prevailing national and international laws cannot find a hiding place in the aviation conclave.

“Let it be placed on record that the consequence of a bad law is that the law cannot be implemented, or will be disobeyed. To demonstrate our resolve against this brazen effort to totally obliterate aviation unions, we have directed all our state organs to carry out peaceful public demonstrations at all airports nationwide on Monday the 12th of September 2022.

“And should the situation remain not ameliorated beyond 14 days after the demonstrations, then our unions shall embark on total industrial action to press home our demands.”

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