The National Deputy President of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Mudi Mohammed, has accused some domestic airlines of undermining workers’ constitutional right to unionise, despite a standing directive from the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.

In this interview culled from Daily Sun, Mohammed said the minister had made it clear that aviation employees are free to join unions without intimidation or reprisals.

Yet, he alleged that several operators have continued to resist unionisation efforts, creating what he described as a climate of fear across parts of the industry.

For NAAPE, Mohammed said this resistance by airlines is one of its most pressing challenges and has called on the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority to enforce compliance. He spoke on other issues.

How has it been since your inauguration as national deputy president?

Everything is going as planned. Even though progress is a little slow, we are getting there gradually.

What issues have you encountered in this short period of administration?

As part of what we want to achieve this year, one of our goals is to bring back most of our pilots and engineers into the union. Almost all of them want to be part of the union, but due to certain circumstances, we have yet to get most of them on board. We are hopeful that if things work out as planned, we will get them there.

What do you mean by trying to get most people in?

Most of them are existing members of our association, but due to changes in their place of work, they moved to other airlines. Unfortunately, some of those airlines do not permit them to join the union, which is really against the law of this country. According to labour law, every Nigerian has the right to belong to any association or union of their choice. Yet some organisations discourage it and if a pilot or engineer wishes to join the union, they risk losing their job because the organisation does not support membership of unions. We do not understand why these companies do not want their staff to belong to an association of their choice.

During a stakeholder meeting last year, the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, encouraged and gave a directive to the Director General of the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to bring airlines and unions together, so as to allow pilots and engineers to become members of their respective associations without any threat being imposed on them. To date, however, most of these airlines are not complying with that directive, which is not healthy for the association or for the country.

We all know that the Minister is a man who believes in justice, even before becoming a minister; he stood for the right of every worker to belong to an association of their choice. It is for that reason that he supported this directive. Unfortunately, these airlines are not respecting it, and that remains one of our biggest challenges. We would truly appreciate it if the DG acted on the directive given to him by the Minister and speak to these airlines.

Unions have been accused of being in the habit of disrupting airline operation, how does NAAPE reassure airlines that such disruptions will not occur?

NAAPE is a professional body first, and a union second. Every professional understands that we must prioritise the industry. The moment we start thinking about disrupting the industry, we are taking it backwards. This is the 21st century and we are focused on progress and on the success of the industry. Without the industry, there would be no union. We must ensure that the industry exists and thrives. We can be of great assistance to organisations. We can defend them when requirements imposed by the government or any other party are not in the organisation’s best interest. I will give an example: when Air Peace was being treated unfairly regarding international flight quotas on whether to permit them to fly to certain countries, NAAPE stood firmly in support of Air Peace, because it is a Nigerian company. If such an organisation thrives, it means more jobs for pilots and engineers. So the issue of disrupting the industry is not something we do. We think about how to make jobs available for pilots and engineers and about how to maintain those jobs.

NAAPE members who were sacked

One of our pilots from one of the airlines had been a member of NAAPE even before joining that company, but because of the situation on the ground, he could not formally maintain his membership since the company did not permit union membership. He was later dismissed. The termination letter stated that he had not met the performance and standards expected of him. When we reviewed the termination letter as professionals, we did not accept that. His records were intact and his performance was satisfactory. We understood that perhaps the company simply no longer needed his services, but we found the reason which was stated to be unjust.

This has happened not once or twice, but with several of our members. In each case, after reviewing the records, we found that they were not at fault. Rather than march into the company and fight, we chose to engage them. Through dialogue, we were able to reach an understanding. Some members were reinstated; others were allowed to resign rather than face termination. Those are the kinds of things we do for our members. We speak to management politely and professionally, making them understand the reason why a decision should or should not be taken. Most companies respond well to this approach.

We only escalate if all efforts at settlement have been exhausted but we have never had to get to that point. Every time we have approached a company with a grievance, they listen to us. That said, I see no reason why so many of these companies are not complying with the directive of the Minister. It is not healthy for the industry. At the very least, they should allow members to belong to whichever association they choose.

What is the current situation with the misuse of expatriate quotas by some airlines?

This is one of the challenges my president is actively working on. He has plans to ensure that Nigerian pilots are paid the salary scales they deserve. I will not say more than that at this point, except that the president is working very hard on it.

I will also note that the current shortage of pilots and engineers has already pushed many airlines to begin meeting their obligations, even if we are not fully there yet. When you refuse to pay a pilot or engineer what they deserve, they will go elsewhere where they are properly compensated. That is not what NAAPE wants. We want salary structures that prevent us from losing our pilots and engineers.

I commend the few airlines that are already following the Minister’s directive. They are respecting the directive by allowing pilots and engineers to belong to associations of their choice, and we commend them for that. To the other airlines, I want to say that we are not here to impose anything on you. We want to engage in a civilised manner. We are professionals. We are not here only to fight, we are here to see how we can help airlines survive as well. We understand the pressures of the industry. We are fighting for both the workers and the organisations. (The Sun)