Domestic airlines operators in the country are having a rough time as most of them are owing their workers several months of salaries without any hope of paying them in the nearest future.
The latest among the debt ridden carriers is IRS Airlines, which owes its staff nine months of unpaid salaries while the industry regulator, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, looks the other way.
Facts, however, emerged yesterday that three leading industry unions; the Air Transport Staff Senor Services of Nigeria, ATSSSAN; the National Union of Air Transport Employees, NUATE, and the National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE, are gearing up to have a showdown with IRS management over the unpaid salaries to its workers.
Just two weeks ago, about 53 members of staff of Chanchangi Airlines protested against the management of the airline over its unpaid salaries spanning 36 months.
The workers protested to the headquarters of the NCAA when the management advised them to embark on compulsory leave.
The workers alleged that they were asked to stay off from work since 2010, when the airline started having operational challenges and were yet to be paid till now, stressing that all attempts to draw the management of the airline to their plights has failed.
The protesting workers added that all their official communications with the NCAA, the industry's safety regulator, on the matter has also failed over the years.
Before the protest to NCAA earlier, the workers registered their grievances at the ticketing counters of the new domestic terminal to drive home their point and gathered support from the users of the airport.
To this end, some workers of IRS Airlines have resigned from the airline to join other airlines in the sector and the airline is in dire need of staff to beef up its operations.
Although, IRS Airlines does not allow its workers to unionise, the unions insisted that there was no going back on its plans to picket the airline as the unpaid staff posed a threat to the safety of the aviation sector.
The unions argued that any personnel working in a safety and critical sector like aviation and is not well remunerated or owed salaries can easily be enticed by unscrupulous elements to perpetuate criminal acts and put safety of aircraft and passengers into jeopardy.
One of the workers, who did not want his name mentioned, told National Mirror that the situation has become awful and if nothing is done it could erode the safety that the Federal Government has been preaching in high tones since the Dana crash.
National Mirror