TUC Backs Aviation Workers Strike, Demands Urgent Release Of 5% Ticket Charges

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has thrown its weight behind the ongoing strike by aviation workers, demanding the immediate remittance of five per cent ticket charges by airlines and insisting that workers’ right to unionise must be respected.

TUC president-general, Comrade Festus Osifo, made the position known in Abuja while addressing journalists on economic and labour issues affecting Nigerians and workers.

Osifo said the aviation workers’ action, involving affiliates of the labour centre, was triggered by unresolved grievances including alleged refusal by some airlines to allow workers to organise under trade unions and failure to remit the statutory five per cent ticket charge meant for workers.

He said the TUC had been engaged by aviation unions ahead of the strike and had intervened with relevant authorities to seek an amicable resolution. However, he warned that merely persuading workers to suspend the action without addressing the underlying issues would only create conditions for another industrial dispute.

“One of the principal issues is that this airline, they have refused members who want to unionise to unionise and any company who does not want a member to organise, what you are actually doing is, you are subjecting them to hardship. You know that you are not taking care of their welfare and you know that you just want to wake up and get them terminated.

It is our right to unionise. We have the right so no employer can stop an employee from belonging to the union. So we have endorsed what they are doing 100% and we are giving them total support to ensure that these issues are resolved.

Another issue is that there is a five per cent ticket charge. That five per cent ticket charge is supposed to be remitted to the workers but as of today, that 5% ticket charge is not remitted. The value today is about N25 billion. That money is with the airlines. They have refused to remit the money and we will do everything possible to get the money remitted,” he said.

The TUC also raised concerns over the Nigerian economy, saying improvements in macroeconomic indicators had yet to translate into meaningful relief for workers, traders and households.

Osifo argued that the relatively stable exchange rate and moderation in inflation had not sufficiently lowered the cost of living.

The TUC also urged the government to sustain food imports until domestic production and security conditions improve enough for farmers to return fully to their farms.

On insecurity, the labour centre renewed its call for immediate implementation of the state police, arguing that security challenges were undermining economic activity and agricultural production.

Osifo said the government should also deploy modern technology and equipment to strengthen security operations across the country.

The TUC further advocated a private-sector-led restructuring of Nigeria’s refineries, recommending that government retain a maximum 49 per cent equity while competent private investors take a controlling 51 per cent stake.

Osifo said the model would reduce political interference and introduce stronger commercial discipline into refinery management.

The labour centre also commended the Department of State Services for its recent arrests of suspected terrorists and bandits, urging the authorities to ensure that suspects are prosecuted.

It praised the federal government for increasing military salaries by between 50 and 80 per cent, but called for similar improvements across the wider public workforce.