The Aviation Workers Union has finalized plans to close all airports nationwide starting on September 18, 2024.

This comes after the Federal Government turned down their request to reverse the policy of taking 50% of the internally generated revenue from aviation sector entities.

The notice of the strike was announced in a statement on Thursday, 12 September 2024, signed by the National Union of Air Transport Workers’ General Secretary, Ocheme Aba, and the Deputy General Secretary of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, Frances Akinjole. Others are Abioye Olayinka, General Secretary of the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, Abdul Rasaq, Secretary General of the ANAP, and Sikiru Waheed, General Secretary of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service Technical, and Recreational Services Employees, are the others.

The cause of the impending strike is the unions’ demand to end the deduction from the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, Nigerian Meteorological Agency, and Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau

The TSA policy was first implemented in October 2022 with a 25 percent withdrawal from federal revenue-generating agencies. Shortly after, that amount was increased to 40 percent. However, in January 2024, President Bola Tinubu increased the deductions to 50%. Among the unions are:

The Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation Civil Service Technical and Recreation Services Employees, the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals, the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, and the National Union of Air Transport Employees

The unions cautioned that the financial strain brought on by the deductions was already compromising vital safety operations inside these organizations. Additionally, they issued a warning that they would not be held accountable should these financial limitations cause the aviation sector to collapse.

The statement said, in part, “We have made every effort, but to no avail, to convince the Federal Government that each Agency is a cost recovery agency rather than a profit-making one. As a result, they are unable to subsist on half of their revenue under any administrative structure or other name. As of the end of August 2024, the Minister of Aviation was no longer under any obligation under the same terms.

Based on the information at our disposal, it appears that the Agencies’ significant and vital safety-related operations are coming to a complete stop due to the deductions. Consequently, it is now our duty as aviation workers and trade unions to inform the public and government that we will not be held accountable should the business become financially unstable as a result of the deductions made at the source.

“All State Councils, Women Commissions/Committees, Youth Councils, and Branches of our Unions throughout the Nation are to fully mobilize for, and ensure full compliance and success of the nonviolent protests.”

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