Airport shuts down as aviation workers join strike
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, (NUPENG), has directed its members to shut down services in Kaduna State with effect from May 16.
The directive was in compliance with Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)’s five days warning strike over the sack of workers in the State.
NUPENGs General Secretary, Afolabi Olawale gave the directive in a letter addressed to the Petroleum Tanker Drivers branch of NUPENG on Wednesday.
Olawale said compliance with the directive was necessary for the successful execution of the campaign against the alleged anti-labour practices of the Kaduna State governor.
Recall that the NLC had directed workers in the State to completely withdraw their services for five days with effect from May 16, 2021.
Kaduna State NLC Chairman, Ayuba Suleiman, had said that the decision was taken during an emergency meeting in Kaduna with a delegation from the NLC national headquarters.
The union had accused the state government of ignoring due process in the recent disengagement of over 4,000 workers from local governments, the State’s Basic Education Board and the State’s Primary Health Care Agency.
Similarly, aviation workers in the State have said that they will from today shut down flight operations at the Kaduna Airport, as the various aviation unions in the country jointly resolved to proceed on an industrial action till next week Friday.
The unions are National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Association Of Nigeria Aviation Professionals and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers.
In a letter, jointly signed by the leaders of the three bodies, the workers said the strike was in consonance with the declaration by the NLC, Kaduna State Chapter, to embark on the action in protest to anti-labour practices perpetrated against civil servants by the Governor Nasir el-Rufa’i-led administration in the State.
