Aviation Unions Issue Three-Day Ultimatum to Airlines Over Unionisation Dispute

The National Union of Air Transport Employes (NUATE) and the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) have served a three-day strike notice on domestic airlines in Nigeria, accusing the operators of barring workers from joining unions and refusing to pay ticket sales charges owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
​ ​The unions said in a statement issued over the weekend that they were escalating the matter after the warning they gave on August 4, when the unions announced a notice of picketing and declared they were ready to strike “at any time without further notice.”

The unions said they were giving the airlines another three days to address their grievances before industrial action starts, calling the latest move a show of restraint. In the statement, the unions accused airlines of two major violations.

They said that airlines had made it impossible for members of staff to join unions freely, despite repeated efforts by the aviation unions to secure that right. Workers are too scared to even show interest in union membership because they are afraid of discrimination, they said.

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The unions also accused airlines of holding back a 5% charge on ticket sales that is supposed to fund the operations of aviation agencies. The statement said the non-remittance of these funds has stalled the implementation of collective bargaining agreements already negotiated on behalf of union members.

The statement read: “In relaxing the notice of picketing dated 4th August 2026 by our unions with a statement that we were ready to strike at anytime without further notice, we hereby magnanimously issued a 3-day Notice of Strike upon the defaulting domestic airlines principally for the following infractions:

Following several attempts by the aviation unions to unionize staff in their organization, this has made it impossible. Their workers don’t even dare to say that they want to join unions of their choice.

\”Non-remittance of the already collected, but withheld 5% ticket sales charge, which is the operational fund of the aviation agencies and thus making our members negotiated collective bargaining agreements at the aviation agencies nugatory so far. This still creates disgruntled air transport workers; the implication of which is an accident in the waiting!

‘We want clear statements thru circulars and other direct means of communication to their staff that they are free to join unions of their choice without fear of victimization.

“We want the immediate remittance of the seized operational funds of the aviation agencies to enable us implement the conditions of service of our members in the various aviation agencies.”