The Aviation Labour Unions have agreed to call of their strike after reaching agreement with the federal government.
The federal government, represented by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, alongside the Ministry Permanent Secretary and Heads of various agencies under it, met with leaders of the aggrieved unions, including the Nigeria Meteorological Agency (NiMet), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Thursday in Abuja to ascertain concerns raised by the striking workers.
Keyamo, while addressing journalists after the meeting said they discovered that there was not much disagreement on some of the key issues.
He explained that some were issues of implementation, and maybe miscommunication between usthe government and the unions.
The minister admitted that himself and the Head of parastals have enjoyed cordial relations with all the aviation unions since they assumed office.
He added that they are on the same page on most of their demands, saying they identify with their demands and struggles on most of these issues.
Keyamo noted: “It was only natural today that we resolve these issues without much ado. We have since agreed on this. I was the one in our last stakeholders meeting in Lagos. I agreed that the salaries of NiMet in particular, the Nigerian Meteorological Services, was atrocious, was not at par with other aviation agencies, and it was only natural that their patience will run very thin.
“And I just want to commend all the workers of NiMet who are also watching us here. This is just their leadership that is here, but all the workers of NiMet across the country, we commend them for their patience, for their resilience, and to say that we identify actually with their agitation on this issue.
“So we agreed on this, and we resolved that immediately. I will write a letter to Mr. President. This matter had been approved before, just to put it in context. It had been approved before by, I think, when the Minister Aborishade was here, but had not been implemented for that long.
“It was approved at that time that there should be salary relativity amongst the key aviation agencies, especially NiMet and NAMA in particular. It had been long when approved.
“However, we will just restart the process. So it has been agreed that I will immediately write a letter to Mr. President, acknowledge, and show them the acknowledgement copy by latest Monday or Tuesday next week.”