MMA2, ATSSSAN tango: Setting aviation backward

At a time the country’s aviation sector is said to be enjoying relative peace, aviation unions, especially Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) are poised to puncture that peace as a result of endless ultimatum given by to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) to unionise or get its operations disrupted. WOLE SHADARE writes that many unions in aviation are becoming clog in the wheel of aviation progress

 

The fresh threats by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSSAN) to Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), that the company has 14 days within which to recall some of the 62 staff it disengaged recently are creating rumpus in the fragile aviation industry.

 

Besides threatening that it would picket MMA2 and disrupt its operations if its demands were not met, ATSSSAN also asked the airlines operating at the terminal to relocate elsewhere to avoid disruption to their services. The airlines include Dana, Aero, Med-View, Arik and Max Air. This is the second time in four months that the aviation unions would be threatening BASL over the disengaged workers. They had earlier threatened to picket MMA2 in May. This, to keen observers, is a new dimension to the whole crisis.

 

But many stakeholders in the aviation sector consider these threats as a misplaced priority and a distraction, especially coming at a time the sector is experiencing relative peace and the Federal Government is trying to reposition it for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

The unions had, among others, accused BASL of sacking the workers because they showed interest in unionism, but the company said this is far from the truth.

 

A statement issued by the company after the first threats were issued in May, this year, had explained that contrary to the allegation, “these members of staff who were relieved of their appointment were those who had either attained retirement age or were found not to be diligent in their duties. We asked them to go because we reserve the right to continue to improve the quality of our staff.

 

“All our efforts to resolve the issue of the sack by explaining to the unions, at various meetings held with them and the Nigerian Civil Aviation Agency (NCAA), the precarious circumstances that led to us to take the action were rebuffed by them.”

 

The statement recalled that when the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) was handed over to BASL in accordance with the Concession Agreement executed between it, the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), ATSSSAN and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) physically BASL from exercising its constitutional and legal right of ownership of the terminal.

 

It added: “Besides, it is interesting to note that the two unions actually challenged our ownership of the GAT in court in Appeal No. CA/A/141/M/09. The case was decided in our favour in the Court of Appeal on the 16th day of October 2010. Their case was dismissed for lacking any merit whatsoever.

 

“Sequel to this, the courts had awarded damages of N132, 000, 000, 000 (One Hundred and Thirty Two Billion Naira) in favour of our company for the liability we suffered up to 2009. As at now, the damage is in excess of N200, 000, 000, 000 (Two Hundred Billion Naira).

 

“We see disruption of our operations as a continuation of the unions’ desire to sabotage the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and our concession agreement under which we are providing essential services at MMA2.

“Since BASL reserves the right to continue to improve services for customers at our terminal, we are soliciting for the support and understanding of stakeholders in these trying times, as we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that the terminal operates seamlessly.

“We will also do everything within the laws of the land to enforce our right to peaceful existence in Nigeria and to operate our terminal without any interruption from any quarters”.

However, BASL has not responded to the new threats and ultimatum.

 

Disruptions of flight operations

 

If the unions carry out their threats to disrupt operations at MMA2, it will have bandwagon effects on the aviation industry, as all the airlines operating from the terminal will not be able to operate. Also, all the retail outlets at the terminal will remain shut. This will lead to loss of revenues to both MMA2 and the airlines, as well as passengers flying them. Other small businesses at the terminal will lose revenue. Some appointments to be kept by passengers in and outside Lagos will be lost alongside the revenues that should have come with them. The losses grow higher if the picketing is prolonged more than one day.

 

Besides, during the period, there will also be disruption to road traffic as motorists and other road users will not be able to access their destinations easily through the MMA2-MMIA road, as the spill over of traffic may stretch as long as Maryland and all the road within Ikeja and its environs. This will lead to loss of revenues to the road users, while they will spend more man-hour on the road.

 

Unionisation

The labour law does not make it mandatory for any employee to join any union, just as it says no employer has the right to deny any willing employee from joining any union of his/her choice. The law also does not permit any labour union to impose a worker on any unwilling employer.

 

Specifically in the case of BASL and the unions, experts in labour matters argue that ATSSSAN, which is supposed to be exclusively for senior staff members in the aviation sector, has no right to want to force Bi-Courtney to recall the disengaged workers, who may have been disengaged for one reason or the other. For instance, they also say that the association cannot fight for security staff who are junior staff in an organisation like BASL.

 

Antagonisms to concession

 

Stakeholders, however, expressed dismay that rather than suggest meaningful ways to move the industry forward, the usually quarrelsome and sometimes violent aviation unions have opposed almost all the government and private sector initiatives formulated to change the face of aviation in Nigeria.

 

Over one decade, opposition to the MMA2 concession by the aviation unions, especially its refusal to allow the Federal Government hand over the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) to the company, even when all preparations had been concluded by the Federal Government to do so and even when BASL had thrashed them in the court of law.

 

There were also oppositions to past concessions, such as the one between the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Maevis Nigeria Limited to shore up the authority’s revenue base through the Airport Operations Management System (AOMS). In it, the unions in the crudest of manner, messed up the concession, even after Maevis had invested millions of naira to buy and install equipment for the job. They resorted to self-help by going physical to eject Maevis staff from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, after the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the concessioner, was floored in the court of law, just to frustrate the concession.

 

In the same vein, the same local branch of the unions in FAAN engaged AIC Hotels Limited in a battle of wits over a parcel of land leased to the company to build an international hotel around MMIA under a concession agreement in 1998. And as usual, despite a court order, the union also went physical with those of AIC just to recover the land from the company. In fact, they chased away the company’s workers from the land and seized some of their tools.

 

 

Way forward

 

Former Assistant Secretary General of Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON), Alhaji Mohammed Tukur said more dialogue need to be explored by both parties to reach amicable resolution.

 

He stated that it is he right of the workers to join any other union, saying the firm has no right to stop any staff from joining union if they so wish, adding that all what Bi-Courtney needs to do or the staff need to understand is that anybody that wants to join union can join on his own.

 

“If ATSSSAN is saying Bi-Courtney should force the staff to join union, it doesn’t work that way. You can’t force anybody to join union because it is their money. If the workers have not joined yet, why should ATSSSSAN want to shut down Bi-Courtney; it doesn’t make sense at all.”

 

“It boils down to the same issue of sabotage. I don’t think they are doing it in the interest of the aviation industry. The truth of the matter is that Bi-Courtney has the right to hire and if you have committed an offence by not following regulations of the company, they can proceed to sack you. If Bi-Courtney sacked the people because they wanted to join union, they are wrong. I think Bi-Courtney would be able to make that mistake”.

 

He appealed to the union to understand the situation rather than threats they deploy when dialogue would simply have solved the problem.

 

“This industry needs to move forward. We don’t need this type of distractions. Bi-Courtney has suffered a lot for years which they know. No reason whatsoever at this time when there is security challenges for them to create more problem for the sector. I call on all security agencies to ensure there is no breakdown of law and order. I don’t think government will allow all that to happen. That era has passed where everybody will do what they like.”

 

Tukur described as pure sabotage letters allegedly written by the union leaders to airlines operating from the MMA2 terminal to move out their services from there, saying it has nothing to do with their grouse.

 

He urged Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited to take serious action in a situation where somebody is ready to cause havoc to a big business like theirs, saying he was not in support of ATSSSSAN’s position.

 

“I am not with them. I am not supporting their action. They have to sit down and discuss the situation. ATSSSAN only want to make more money by every staff joining ATSSSAN. For them to say that Bi-Courtney must force those people to join the union is not going to work”.

 

“And for anybody to commit an offence and ran to the union to say because we want to join union and they refuse to join union. Why Bi-Courtney will refuse anybody to join union is because they will remove from their salaries. They are not foolish. They are educated people. I don’t see reason why they must create problem”.

 

Tukur disclosed that airlines do not allow their workers to join unions but allow those that are desirous to do so. He further stated that many airlines do not allow their pilots and engineers to join unions because of safety.

 

“But one thing is you don’t allow your captain and engineers to join unions because that has to do with safety. If you allow those people to join union, you are in trouble. That is what happened with Air Nigeria and they sabotaged that airline until the airline went out of service”, he added.

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