Aviation unions, FG to resolve revenue deduction dispute

Aviation unions have gotten assurance from the Minister for Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, that their demands on revenue deductions from aviation agencies were being looked into.

According to the Secretary of the Joint Aviation Trade Unions Forum, Nnadi Hector, the minister assured union leaders that he was actively working on resolving their demands.

“We had a meeting with the minister recently, and he explained that he was already on top of the situation. He has reached out to the Minister of Finance, and he has also reached out to Mr President,” he explained.

He added that the leadership of all unions present at the meeting held a confidential discussion with the minister, who expressed optimism about a positive outcome.
“In the meantime, the minister has agreed on some decisions which the union will yield to, pending when they will solve the problem completely,” Hector said.

The unions had stated that their primary demand was a complete stoppage of revenue generation in the aviation sector.

Hector stressed that aviation should not be seen as a revenue-generating industry but rather as a service.
“The unions did not mince words. We told the minister that aviation is not a revenue-generating agency. It is a service industry. You can imagine an organisation like NSIB taking what they get from FAAN or NCAA to run their operations,” he asserted.
The minister, according to Hector, is making efforts to address the union’s concerns and is reviewing the situation objectively.

“For now, they are looking at the final stage of the meeting, which is what the unions are looking for.

“A measure would be taken, likely as an interim measure, and the government will make their decisions known through a circular or a letter,” Hector stated.

He noted that the unions expected a letter to be released before the end of next week, which would provide further clarity on the government’s stance and proposed solutions to the ongoing issues within the aviation sector.

Recall that Aviation workers’ unions had planned to stage a peaceful protest on September 18 following the Federal Government’s refusal to accede to their demand for the reversal of the 50 per cent deduction policy from the internally generated revenues of agencies in the aviation sector.

The protest stemmed from the unions’ clamour for the discontinuation of the deduction from the following agencies: the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, the Nigeria College of Aviation Technology, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, and the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau.
The TSA policy, which was initially implemented with a 25 per cent deduction from revenue-generating federal agencies in October 2022, was increased to 40 per cent.