Contract workers paralyse activities at Lagos airport
*Workers owed eight months’ salary
*Airlines’ agents checked in passengers manually
Flight activities were on Monday morning paralysed at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Lagos, due a strike embarked upon by workers of a contractor to the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) at the terminal.
The contracting firm, Vanderlande Nigeria Ltd, which is handling the maintenance of the conveyor belts for FAAN at the airport, it was gathered, owed its workers over eight months unpaid salaries.
Our correspondent gathered that when the workers resumed for duty yesterday morning, they shunned work, thereby paralysing flight activities.
It took the intervention of some workers, including FAAN workers at the international wing of the airport before normalcy could return to the terminal.
It was also gathered that to douse tension from escalating, the management of the company held an emergency meeting with the striking workers; and promised to pay them their backlog of salaries.
But, before the issue could be resolved, flight operations of Virgin Atlantic Airways, Qatar Airways, Kenya Airlines and Med-View Airline were disrupted for hours early in the morning, thereby causing delay departures; while airlines’ agents manually checked in passengers’ luggage.
It was gathered that there was misunderstanding between FAAN and the contractor over the the debts to the tune of eight months, but investigation by our correspondent indicated that the agency and the contractor were trying to resolve the issue.
A source close to the terminal said: “The workers of the maintenance company switched off the conveyor belts early (yesterday) morning when they resumed for work. They were actually protesting the non-payment of their salaries for months by their employers.
The source said, “It has nothing to do with FAAN. FAAN is not indebted to any concessionaire. But, as I’m talking to you right now, the issue has been resolved and the workers are back to duty.”
Also, when our correspondent contacted the General Manager, Corporate Communications, FAAN, Mrs. Henrietta Yakubu, said the agency was reconciling its accounts.
She said the issue has been resolved; and workers have gone back to their jobs.
Chukwuemeke Iwelunmo
