Employees of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMET) have ended their strike following the federal government’s involvement.
On Wednesday, the workers began an indefinite strike over welfare issues, including “NiMet‘s refusal to negotiate or implement agreed-upon financial allowances and unresolved entitlements,” as well as wage awards, special allowances, and pending payments from the 2019 minimum wage.
They also accused the agency’s administration of concealing vital papers, disregarding requests to include omitted employees in earlier payouts, and skipping key training programs in favour of executive getaways.
However, on Thursday, the workers called off the strike following a closed-door meeting between Festus Keyamo, Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, and executives of NiMet.
The suspension of the strike is pending the outcome of the minister’s intervention on the issues raised.
Speaking after the meeting, Aba Ocheme, national secretary of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), confirmed the decision:
“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,” Ocheme said
Alale Adedayo, national president of the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), stated that the unions called off the strike out of appreciation for the minister’s intervention.
According to Tunde Moshood, his media aide, Keyamo expressed empathy for the impacted workers and promised to find long-term answers to their problems.
Moshood stated that the minister agreed to take steps to expedite the resolution of the critical concerns, including formal communications with President Bola Tinubu and Wale Edun, the minister of finance.
The strike resulted in Air Peace halting all flight operations across the country due to a lack of QNH (hazardous weather) notifications essential for safe landing.
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