The management of Air Peace airline has described the picket organised by the members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees as an illegal way of disrupting its
operations.
Manager, Corporate Communications, Air Peace, Mr. Chris Iwarah, said the security agents deployed in the airport to prevent a clash between the unions and its staff conducted themselves in a professional manner.
The airline confirmed that the proactive steps taken by the police, the Department of State Services and Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria saved its flights from being disrupted by “jobless unionists who are only out to deceive members of the public and exploit unsuspecting
workers.”
The airline described the picketing exercise by the unions as “unpopular and weak,” commending its staff for shunning attempts by “unpatriotic elements masquerading as labour leaders” to use them to reverse the success of the
carrier.
The airline stated that the security outfits discharged their responsibility to protect law-abiding members of the public with a great sense of
professionalism.
Meanwhile, members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees and other aviation unions had threatened to picket Air Peace over claims of casualisation and refusal to grant them recognition for the purposes of unionising the airline’s
staff.
But in a statement, the airline dismissed the unions’ claims of casualisation as a failed attempt to give legitimacy to the “illegal” picketing, insisting that the carrier had no casual staff in its
employ.
The airline also maintained that it had no legal obligation to compel any member of its staff to recognise or join any of the unions in the aviation sector.
Cautioning the unions to drop their plan to disrupt its operations, the carrier urged the police, FAAN and other security agencies to intervene to prevent a breakdown of law and
order.
