Workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) have called off their strike following an intervention by the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
The decision emerged at the end of a meeting convened by the minister with leaders of the aggrieved workers’ unions, including the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP).
Speaking after the meeting, the National Secretary of NUATE, Comrade Aba Ocheme, confirmed the decision to suspend the strike action.
“We have resolved to suspend the ongoing strike till May 13, 2025, in recognition of the Honourable Minister’s timely and sincere intervention. We await the progress of the actions he has committed to take,” he said.
The workers had protested over poor working conditions, including salary relativity with other aviation agencies, non-implementation of the 2019 consequential adjustment to the national minimum wage (affecting at least 30 omitted staff), demands for a 25/35% salary increase, 40% hardship/peculiar allowances, annual staff trainings, among others.
The Minister responded with the following pledge:
Personal intervention through formal communications to both the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Minister of Finance, aimed at fast-tracking the resolution of pressing financial concerns;
Establishment of a ministerial committee, headed by the permanent secretary of the ministry, to interface with the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to clarify issues surrounding subsistence allowances and related matters.
The meeting was attended by the Director General, NiMET, Officials of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), the National Union of Transport Employees, other key stakeholders, 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.
The strike, which has lingered for two days, has left passengers on scheduled local flights stranded at the Airport, across the country.
