Ministry wades into Union, Bristows face-off, suspends strike

The Ministry of Labour and Productivity has intervened in the picketing and warning strike of Bristow Helicopters by the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) over wage disparity.

The intervention of the ministry however led to the suspension of the warning strike by the union. NAAPE had originally planned to picket the company for three days beginning from Tuesday to Friday.

Also, the ministry has called the two parties to a meeting today in Abuja for the purpose of resolving the matter.

Media consultant to Bristow Helicopters, Cornelius Onuorha said Bristow’s premises was  picketed by NAAPE, which has caused disruptions to our clients’ flight operations in Nigeria. The action is related to concerns raised by NAAPE regarding certain aspects of the conditions of service of its members currently employed by Bristow Helicopters Nigeria.

He said Bristow had been in dialogue with NAAPE over the past few months regarding this matter and a proposal was recently put to NAAPE for their consideration, adding that the Federal Ministry of Labour has intervened in the matter and had advised the union to stop its action and maintain the status quo until a meeting scheduled for April.

This action is coming at a time when the global oil and gas industry is facing severe challenges and the Nigerian economy is undergoing serious disruptions with a number of clients reducing their activities. Bristow continues to keep its obligations to clients and employees.

Bristow is disappointed that despite our concerted efforts to keep our Nigeria operations running as smoothly and efficiently as possible, this action will temporarily impact flight schedules. We will continue to encourage dialogue and partnership with all stakeholders during this period.

We restate our commitment to providing safe and efficient air services to our clients and to the development of the Nigerian aviation industry.

The General Secretary, NAAPE, Aba Ocheme said that as a responsible union, the leadership of the union called off the picketing, hoping that issues raised by body would be addressed by the ministry.

Ocheme said that the ministry made a passionate appeal to the union to allow it offers its mediation service, stressing that the union called off the warning strike ahead of scheduled time out of great respect for it.

He said that the suspension of the warning strike took immediate effect. The union also informed all its members to resume their normal duties from today.

Ocheme disclosed that if the intervention of the ministry didn’t yield the expected result, the union would be forced to embark on an indefinite strike, which would cripple the activities of the airline.

The union had in the morning of yesterday shutdown the operations of the helicopter company, singing solidarity songs and making sure that no worker of Bristow Helicopters was allowed into the company’s premises.

It would be recalled that NAAPE had earlier in the week threaten to embark on a three-day warning strike following the vexed issue of pay disparity by which Nigerian pilots and engineers were discriminated against in favour of foreign nationals.

The union also alleged that there was no valid condition of service for its members.

The union pointed out that all effort by NAAPE to get the management of Bristow to ameliorate these acts of injustice and violation of the constitution of Nigeria, as well as contravention of Bristow Code of Business Integrity, COBI, has failed to yield any positive result.

He said, “NAAPE has since offered a proposal to the management, which has received an even more unpalatable response. Any unbiased third party will easily agree that NAAPE has bent double backwards to show maturity and good faith, and has amply demonstrated restraint and forbearance. But, management has paid us back with utter disdain and blackmail.

“While we have been playing for time to allow for workable solutions, management has been digging trenches and fortifying their positions. While we have been offending our members by showing understanding, management has been degrading our country’s laws by massing up expatriate recruitments, in fragrant disregard to subsisting expatriate quota laws, all in a bid to decimate and weaken the position of nationals. And as a nail on our coffin, the management has set out to massively lay off Nigerian pilots and engineers as a weapon of war against NAAPE.”

Wole Shadare