Members of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) have barricaded the Murtala Muhammed airport (MMA2) terminal, Lagos over the sacking of 34 members of the union by Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL). BASL is the operator of the MMA2.
The union barricaded the entrance of the airport by 2am on Tuesday and a source said they will not leave until the issues surrounding the sack of the affected union members are addressed.
He said that all efforts to resolve the issues at several meetings proved in the past proved abortive as Bi- Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL) was not ready to address the matter.
ATSSSAN had alleged that BASL sacked 34 of its members illegally on Friday last week with “ordinary e-mails” sent to their different boxes with disregard to the rule of law after they were first sent on compulsory leave of absence for 10 days.
The Vice President and Deputy General Secretary of ATSSSAN, Emmanuel Jaja and Frances Akinjole, said during a press conference on Monday that most of those laid off had put in at least a decade into the job with the company.
Akinjole insisted that the action was to witch-hunt its members as its branch chairman, branch secretary, branch treasurer and branch women leader were all affected by the sack.
He said the action of the management contravened Section 20 of the Labour Act on engagement and disengagement of staff by any company in the country, maintaining that the union would kick severely against the act of the management.
According to Akinjole, since the terminal operators “grudgingly” accepted that its staff could join the unions, it had continued to intimidate its members in the company.
He explained that the union had on June 16, 2021 concluded the signing of the staff Conditions of Service (CoS) for its members in Bi-Courtney, after a prolonged negotiation with the management, which spanned about three years.
