FAAN Collaborates With ANAP On Union Leaders’ Training Programme

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in partnership with the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals (ANAP) has facilitated a 3-day training programme for newly elected executive members of the union drawn from the Lagos State chapter of FAAN branch.

The training programme tagged: “2019 May Day Retreat” which ran from 25th to 27th April, 2019 at Bezeer Hotel, Ota in Ogun State was administered by Ever Tech Systems Consulting, a Manpower Development, IT and Marketing Consultancy firm. Twenty participants of members of ANAP, FAAN branch attended the training programme.

In his paper titled: “Ethical Issues In Trade Union Leadership”, Mr Austin Ojei, a Chartered Accountant took the union leaders through the rigors of achieving good leadership attributes in order to be a good union leader.

According to Ojei, for union leaders to make a mark, they should be honest, well organised, punctual, dedicated, fair to all, enthusiastic and must possess excellent personal skills.

Ojei said the training is recognised by the organisers of the program and that as leaders of Trade Unions, the right quality of leadership should be inculcated or strengthened where it already exist in them to enable them give out the necessary leadership that would motivate members, especially staff of the FAAN for better attainment.

Another reason Ojei gave that necessitated the training programme is to enable the unionists to work in consonance with the objective of the organisation by cooperating with management and not to be antagonistic but being ethical.

Delivering another paper on “Managing Abrasive Workplace Behavior”, Kola Olupitan listed interpersonal behaviours that cause emotional distress in co-workers which he confirmed is capable of disrupting organizational planning.

Listing shouting, name calling, public humiliation, making threats, swearing, over-control amongst others as abrasive behaviors, Olupitan notified the union leaders that it starts subtly from mild, moderate and severe levels.

Advising workers to always report abrasive behaviors whenever it occurs in the workplace, Olupitan warned that such behaviours could cause decreased work effort, time at work, quality of work, avoiding the offender and decline in performance.

On the purpose of the training, the human capital development expert said “basically, what we are trying to do is to inform them. When they are informed, they are learning. That will help them to know some of the things they are doing that is either right or wrong. An average person that is a unionist feels he has this superiority tendency. He feels he knows it all which we feel is not true. We want to change that mindset from being aggressive to trying to sit down and mutually agreeing on terms that will work positively in their organization.

 He said tribal sentiments can be best solved when the spirit of unity subsists amongst Nigerians, adding that, it can be best solved when we know that as Nigerians, we are all one.

“My advice to them is to break themselves into thinking groups. Go through the training and ensure they understand them. They should replicate it amongst themselves”, Olupitan proffered.

Also former Managing Editor of Daily Times, Ndubuisi Ugbede who delivered a paper on “Effective Communication In The Workplace” warned the union leaders on what they say at any point in time as communication is subject to distortions.

Ugbede therefore, reiterated the fact that communication flow is very important for organisations that want to grow.

In his remark, Chairman of ANAP, FAAN branch, Alale Adebayo confirmed that the training was beneficial to the union leaders, stressing that the participants must have learnt new things

Comrade Alale said “everything is not all about I will not agree, I will not agree; which means that we have to sit down with the management in a round table and just iron things out amicably. So other members of that union will benefit”.

“My message to the sponsors is that I will like them to send that signal to the core management so that the management will now know the interrelationship between the staff and the union so that the cordial relationship will be retained”, he added.