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Workers cannot shut airspace – ATC

By on July 17, 2014

The Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association has condemned the incessant threats by various aviation groups to shut the nation’s airspace as a means of settling industrial disputes.

The association said in a statement on Tuesday that air traffic controllers were fully in charge of the airspace and had not declared any industrial action.

The statement signed by the President, NATCA, Mr. Victor Eyaru, and General Secretary, Mr. Olawode Banji, read in part, “We want to categorically say that no employee or group can shut down the nation’s airspace. Air traffic controllers and other aviation workers can only withdraw their services if industrial disputes warrant the declaration of a strike action.”

The group noted that although air traffic controllers in the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency had over the years been working under difficult situations to ensure air safety, it had no plan to embark on a strike.

It said it had not yet declared any industrial dispute that could make its members to withdraw their services.

The NATCA, however, listed unfavourable working conditions, including inadequate and delayed trainings, excessive workload due to inadequate manpower, exposure to various health hazards, poor remuneration and inadequate working tools as major challenges to its members.

It appealed to the Federal Government through NAMA and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, Zaria, to urgently address all the pending welfare and professional issues as they concerned air traffic controllers.

The group called for a review of the controllers’ allowances that had been pending since 2011, stressing that controllers were among the least paid in the Nigerian aviation industry despite the enormous responsibilities they had of ensuring air safety.

It also called for a revisit of its 2008 request for the creation of the Air Traffic Controllers Salary Scale.

 

 

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