An aviation trade union, the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), has given Caverton Helicopters Limited until 4 May 4 to reinstate its workers’ salaries or face an industrial action.
NUATE’s General Secretary, Mr Olayinka Abioye, said it was wrong for Caverton Helicopters to unilaterally slash the salaries of some of its workers by over 50 per cent without considering their plight.
The airline’s management and the aviation union had been involved in labour disputes over allegations of persistent anti-labour practices by the company.
However, following the intervention of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the airline’s management had pleaded for more time to fashion out how the workers’ salaries could be harmonised.
He said that the airline had reinstated the salaries of its staff members in Warri and Port Harcourt due to pressures from the host communities.
According to him, it is unfortunate that its Lagos staff members are being treated differently.
“At the meeting with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the union agreed to give Caverton Management till May 4 to reinstate the salaries.
“If they fail to do so by then, we will go ahead and shut down their operations in Lagos,’’ Abioye said.
It would be recalled that the Managing Director of Caverton Helicopters Limited, Mr Josiah Choms, had told aviation correspondents that the company only reduced the salaries of the workers which had been paid up to date.
Choms had said that the clientele of the company had reduced due to the fall in oil prices, adding that management had tried to explain the situation on ground to the union.