Aviation: Trade Union Vows To Resist FG's Plan To Stop Industrial Action

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has disclosed that it plans to resist the federal government's plan to ban aviation workers from going on strike.

The update was given by TUC President, Festus Osifo, in a statement on Wednesday, in which he stated that the proposed ban is a serious threat to industrial peace and harmony in the nation.

Osifo also said the ban would negatively impact the 2023 general elections and the handing-over process.

“And forceful implementation of this directive by the government will be met with stiff resistance that might lead to the breakdown of law and order in the country", he added.

Addressing the Aviation Minister, Hadi Sirika, who announced the ban on behalf of the federal government, Osifo noted that the former should be aware that the aviation law he refers to which he claims empowers the government to ban strikes can override neither the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria nor the fundamental rights of Nigerians to withdraw their labour if they deem it necessary.

“This is unambiguously stated in the ILO Convention 87 on Freedom of Association and the Right to organize.

“Section 20 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) bans forced or compulsory labour which means no Nigerian citizen can be forced to work if he or she chooses not to work.”

According to him, the government should do what is necessary to address issues of welfare raised by different unions and also respect the letters of any collective agreement that it entered into.

“This is the only way strike can be averted and not by any surreptitious or clandestine moves or pronouncements", Osifo shared.