28th March, 2013
The rotary wing of Aero Contractors, Nigeria’s second largest airline, and preferred brand for oil companies, has been shut in Port Harcourt, southsouth Nigeria, striking workers claimed on Thursday, in another day of protests that have grounded the troubled airline for fifteen days.
The rotary wing, which caters mainly for oil companies in the Niger Delta region, was shut early on Thursday by the Nigerian Labour Congress, Port Harcourt branch, workers said.
“Right now, Port Harcourt has been grounded because of the action of Aero Management against our staff in Lagos and the drivers in Port Harcourt,” said Comrade Justice Ogbaka.
“The rotary wing of Aero has been grounded by the Nigerian Labour Congress. It will have to wait until the crisis is resolved in Lagos,” he said.
The rotary wing take staff of oil companies such as NNPC, Total, PELBOP, TETRA on and off shores.
The spokesperson of Aero Contractors, Simon Tumba, did not confirm or dismiss the report. “I have not been briefed,” he said.
At the headquarters of Aero Contractors in Lagos, southwest Nigeria, workers continued to dance, sing and make speeches on loud speakers, and to call on the management of the 53-year old airline to withdraw the dismissal letters given to more than 655 of them before any meaningful negotiation can start.
Page 36 of Aero Employee Handbook, which took effect on 1 May 2006, states that dismissal from Aero Contractors is “immediate, and without payment of terminal benefits, such as gratuity/pension, accrued leave, etc.”
It is because of that clause that workers, including those who had worked there for several decades, have been calling on Aero management to withdraw those letters before negotiations start.
Rolf Kaeselau, Technical Manager at Aero Contractors, warned Aero workers in the technical department to re-apply latest on Tuesday next week or lose their jobs forever.
The workers walked away, saying they want to be paid off, after the dismissal letters had been withdrawn.
—Simon Ateba