ATSSSAN president hits back at AON, sets record straight on uni

Again, one of the unions in the aviation sector has stressed that the right to unionise, or to be a member of a union, cannot be given by an employer for a worker to belong to a union, but is a matter of choice.e

Reacting to the accusation by the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) at the 30th edition of the League of Airport and Aviation Correspondents in Lagos, that the union truncated the smooth payment arrangement with agencies regarding 5% Ticket Sales Charges, the president of Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Comrade John Ogbe, said that as unions, they don’t have the right to compel anybody to join trade unions.ns

“And as unions, we don’t have the right to compel anybody to join trade unions. Trade unions date back to 1900 in the aviation industry”

“So, for someone to say “because of global best practices,” it’s completely wrong. So, I find it very strange. But that’s to show there’s a lot of a knowledge gap. If, as an investor, you are bringing your money into a sensitive environment like aviation, and one of the key components in the factors of production is labour, and you don’t recognise labour, you’re more like throwing money into the drain”

Ogbe remarked that airlines do not just fly an aircraft from one point to another without following rules, adding that air traffic controllers are union members who give clearance for airlines to fly.

The ATSSSAN boss explained that in aviation, they are one family and partners, adding that they are aware of the financial burden that airlines go through, which has made it for them, as unions, to intervene on behalf of the airlines.nes

“So, I want to say that aviation unions, we are social partners. We are in it together. We understand the financial burden that airlines go through and all of that. And several times, we have intervened on behalf of airlines.

“Not just fighting for our members. We wrote to the Federal Government to give tax waivers on imported items and spare parts for airlines. When airlines had issues, when the fares went up by the airlines, we wrote to the President and requested tax cuts to help airlines recover. During COVID-19, we wrote that airlines should be given intervention,” Ogbe maintained

According to the ATSSSAN president, unions’ interventions have helped the airlines, stressing that the survival of the airlines remained the success of unions.

”So, we are not here to fight or to truncate the business. And that’s what we are saying: give us access to members to join or not to join. You cannot compel it. And this right is given in the Constitution of the Federal Republic; it’s given in the Trade Unions Act; it’s given in the ILO Conventions that Nigeria is a signatory to.”