“Bi-Courtney sacked 20 for joining trade union”

Aviation union under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has accused the management of Bi-courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of Murtala Muhammed Airport private terminal (MMA2) of sacking 20 workers for joining a trade union. General Secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye disclosed this in a statement on Monday, saying […]

Aviation union under the aegis of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) has accused the management of Bi-courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of Murtala Muhammed Airport private terminal (MMA2) of sacking 20 workers for joining a trade union.

General Secretary of NUATE, Olayinka Abioye disclosed this in a statement on Monday, saying the decision to lay off 20 ‘dedicated’ staff was a threat to industrial democracy.

He said the company has breached the fundamental right of the workers to join a trade union of their choice.

He said, "Permit me to use this medium and seize this privilege to appeal to iIndustry employers to respect the rights of their workers to freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom to join and belong to a trade union and freedom not to join or belong.

"The spate of seeming threat of industrial democracy in most work place, particularly private sector dominated workplaces is becoming worrisome. Latest gist is that more than 20 dedicated staff were sacked recently by the Bi-Courtney Management, simply for declaring membership to a trade union. They have rights to do so!

"It is a voluntary obligation to join or not to join. It is even an offence to criminalize trade union membership. It’s an offence by any employer to refuse to recognize registered trade unions etc…"

Spokesman of Bi-Courtney, Mr. Steve Omolale could not be reached for comments tonight. His mobile phones were switched off while the text message sent to him was not replied as at the time of filing this report.