Aviation unions have announced a pending strike at the Nigeria Meteorology Agency (NiMET), set to commence on Monday, May 20, 2024.
This action follows unresolved disputes concerning unpaid wage arrears and allowances.
The strike, as directed by the National Union of Air Transport Employees, the Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, and the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, centres on the failure to implement a 45-month backlog of minimum wage adjustments and other financial benefits.
In a letter obtained by our correspondent, dated May 14, 2024, the unions expressed deep frustration over NiMET management’s neglect of its financial obligations to staff.
“The above catalogue of woes, and others unmentioned, confirm that NiMET Staff have been consigned to the bin of abject poverty—worse than any existing aviation establishment,” the unions’ representatives Ocheme Aba, Abdulrasaq Seidu, and Waheed Sikiru jointly stated.
The unions had previously issued a 14-day ultimatum to NiMET’s Director General, Prof. Charles Anoske, urging immediate action to rectify these issues.
The unions however found management’s response, proposing to settle the arrears in installments to be insufficient.
Furthermore, the unions highlighted ongoing delays in the disbursement of government-sanctioned palliative payments since October 2023, as well as the non-implementation of promised salary increases of 25-35%.
“It is inhuman on the part of management to be forborne with these conditions and irresponsible on the part of unions to tolerate this situation for this long,” the letter read.
The letter also criticised NiMET’s exclusion from receiving Peculiar
Allowances and called for an urgent review of outdated conditions of service.
“Management commences review of the outdated CoS with our Unions with a definite timeline for delivery and actualisation,” the union leaders demanded.
