NIMET WORKERS SUSPEND STRIKE AFTER FG INTERVENTION

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Workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) have called off their strike after the Federal Government’s intervention.

The workers had protested over poor working conditions, grounding flights across the country on Thursday.

But after a meeting with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo, in Abuja, the strike was called off.

The workers were concerned over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past allowances, and neglecting key training programmes, among other matters.

The meeting was attended by the Director General, NiMET, Officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the National Union of Transport Employees, and other key stakeholders.

Others were the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees, Association of Nigerian Aviation Professionals, and the National Union of Air Transport Employees, among others.

Flight activities have been disrupted at local airports following the strike by NiMET workers.

The strike, which has lingered for two days, has left passengers on scheduled local flights stranded at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja; Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos and others.

‘Safety First’

Air Peace informed its passengers that the airline had made the decision not to fly due to safety issues.

On Wednesday, Air Peace’s Chief Executive Officer, Allen Onyema, ordered the cancellation of flights nationwide.

“If NiMET has not called off the strike, cancel every Air Peace flight now with immediate effect. People’s lives and the safety of our equipment and our crew are foremost,” he said.

“I don’t care if other airlines are flying. Suspend every Air Peace flight nationwide. Look at the thunderstorm everywhere. Look at the kind of weather we are going into, and NiMET, which is supposed to provide these things, is on strike, and we are flying.

“Suspend all flights with immediate effect, until further notice, until that strike is over. Safety first.”