Trouble is presently brewing among members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) over an alleged doctoring of the union’s constitution by the national delegates planning committee, ahead of this month’s delegates conference.

Indications emerged that members and the executive officers are at loggerheads as a result of the alleged alteration of the constitution.

According to NUATE’s constitution, to be eligible for nomination and election as a delegate, a candidate must be a member in good financial standing in the union and must have been actively involved for one year preceding his nomination and election.

The constitution further stipulates that only members of good financial standings in the union shall have the right to nominate candidates for election as delegates and to vote at election of delegates.

Majority of the members are presently aggrieved over the renewed election guidelines as the national delegates conference planning/organising committee only approved delegates who are eligible to stand for election for the different positions.

An aggrieved member, who spoke to the Nigerian Tribune declared: “delegates are the only people who can vote, they manipulated it when they said that only delegate can stand for election. It is totally wrong and that is what they said. Only approved delegates can contest for election is totally wrong. All financial members of NUATE can stand for any elective post, but not all financial members can vote, only delegates can vote and those delegates are decided by the constitutions based on the financial strength of the affiliate.

“According to Rule 5, no new rules shall be made or any rules altered, amended or rescinded unless agreed by a majority vote in a secret ballot at the National Delegates’ conference of the union.”

According to sources within the union, the height of the disagreements was when the NUATE secretariat started requesting for letter of employment, national identity cards, among others, before a candidate will be issued form for a position.

Meanwhile, one of the contenders for the post of the national president of NUATE, Comrade Lanre Popoola, has pledged to build and restore worker’s confidence by embarking on aggressive enrolment of workers back to the union.

Speaking with journalists on his bid to contest for the NUATE presidency in Lagos, Popoola decried how workers have lost interest in the present crop of leaders even as he declared that the era of banging tables and using intimidation to resolve labour issues are over.

According to Popoola, “It is high time we bring management to table with us, to let them realise that we are partners in progress and must contribute to the progress of the aviation sector and develop it together”.

On the allegations of the doctoring of the union’s constitution, the aggrieved members while stating that no NUATE member joined the union without being an employee of an organisation in the aviation industry, the aggrieved members are accusing the present leadership of embarking on a manipulative at the delegate conference and deliberately refusing to publish the list of delegates to the coming conference against the usual norms.

Presently, there is no clear cut on the coming delegate conference of NUATE with the aggrieved members vowing to fight the alleged injustice and manipulations. (Nigerian Tribune)

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