Workers of Aero Contractors airline on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest at the Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos over the threat of AMCON to sack them after the airline suspended operations last month.
The protest, organized by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria and National Union of Air Transport Employees, was as a result of the unfair manner AMCON has treated them.
According to them, when AMCON took over the airline in 2011, the airline had 11 aircraft but had only 3 as at 2016 when operations were suspended, despite the N12 billion the company claimed to invest in the airline.
Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Secretary, ATSSSAN, Mrs Frances Akinjole said that AMCON rather approved bogus pay packages for its representatives and did nothing to develop the airline’s portfolio. The workers thus believe it is unfair for the management to sack them as the airline’s woes resulted from the management’s bad decisions and not theirs.
The workers carrying placards had inscriptions such as, “Don’t Allow Aero to Die“, “Save Aero from AMCON“ and “Aero must not go the way of Nigeria Airways“, among others, started the protest at 8.45 am and said that the consequences of sacking the over 800 Aero staff would be grievous for the economy.
Parts of this article originally appeared in Punch Newspapers
