Government To Implement 2019 Minimum Wage For Aviation Agencies Before March Ends

Following a high powered meeting between the Federal Government and aviation Unions in Abuja, which lasted into the night as there were deadlocks on certain agreements until the parties agreed to sheathe their swords, the parties have agreed that the consequential adjustments of the New Minimum Wage of 2019 based on the approved Government templates be implemented on or before the end of first quarter of the year 2022 (31st March, 2022).
For transparency purposes, both parties, FG and the Unions signed a Memorandum of Settlement on the vexed issues of Minimum Wage and CoS.
The MoS was signed by the President, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), Abednego Galadima, National President of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Illitrus Ahmadu, National President of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Ben Nnabue, National President of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), Kabir Gusau and the National President of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporation, Civil Service and Technical Employees (AUPCTRE), Benjamin Anthony.
Others are the Minister of Aviation Senator Hadi Sirika, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige and Permanent Secretaries Ministry of Aviation and Labour and Employment.
The meeting noted that the issue is a protracted one having been on-going for about nine years and stated that the management must take more proactive steps to conclude the review of the CoS to boost the morale and retain the best technical staff in the industry.
The meeting however noted that the CoS for NAMA and NCAA require establishment input and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation should update the Ministry of Aviation on this aspect of their CoS by Friday 11th February, 2022 and copy the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment. The meeting agreed that financial aspect for NAMA and NCAA would be resolved by the PCS by the third week of February 2022.
It was also agreed that, the financial aspect for the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA and Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA will be resolved by the Presidential Committee on Salaries (PCS) by the third week of February as it concerns the approval and release of the reviewed conditions of service while that for FAAN has been released since 2019 but there were issues which were observed and has been forwarded to the Ministry.
For the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet, the communique notes that, the financial implication of the CoS has been approved by the PCS and the implementation process has been concluded except for hazard allowances which would be reconsidered by the NSIWC on a sectorial level.
At the meeting on the New Minimum Wage, the Accident Investigation Bureau, AIB requested for guidance on the issue as they claimed that their salary structure exceeded the National Minimum Wage of 2019 because they had outsourced workers on salary grade level one to four(GL1-4) to third party contractors.
“They informed the meeting that workers of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency, NiMet and the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology (NCAT) are being paid on the Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System, IPPIS, while the other agencies generate funds internally”.
The Memorandum of Settlement states that, ” The honourable minister of Labour and Employment however informed the meeting that immediately the new National Minimum Wage was signed into law, there is bound to be some adjustments of salaries both in the public and private sector of the economy arising from the variation of salary overlaps because of the percentage increase of the mini wage from 18,000 naira to 30,000 naira”.
The meeting notes that some categories of workers in the aviation sector attract some perculair allowances which are not extended to others and stated that those salary structures that are not captured in the Memorandum of Terms of Settlement signed and dated 9th, 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th October, 2019 between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and organized Labour on consequential adjustments of the other wages would attract consequential adjustments as agreed during the negotiations with the Labour centers (The Nigeria Labour Congress and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria) in October, 2019.
The meeting therefore concluded that all the agencies that have not paid the National Minimum Wage allowances should write to NSIWC through the Ministry of Aviation for consideration/evaluation. The NSIWC promised to process all as soon as possible.
Others government officials who participated in the meeting were the, the chairman of the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC), representatives of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet), Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA), Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations (TUSIR), Budget Office of the Federation and the Head of Civil Service.