Nigeria’s Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, has described the strike by staff of the Nigerian Aviation Handling Company (NAHCo), over salary issue as illegal and a threat to the nation.
Sirika who apologised to members of the flying public for their experiences during the strike that grounded activities at the nation’s airports on Monday, said such will not recur as the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari last year prohibits industrial action and riots in the aviation sector.
Sirika said this while taking questions from State House reporters at the Presidential Villa. On Monday, Local and international flights were massively disrupted for several hours as a result of the strike by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Air Transport Senior Staff Association of Nigeria who said they gave a five-day notice of strike to the management of NAHCO last week and had to carry out the action due to slow progress in negotiations for a salary review.
Foremost local airline, Air Peace said it lost over five hundred million Naira (N500, 000,000)as a result of the 14-hour industrial action.
