Labour wades into Caverton Helicopters, aviation union face-off

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity has intervened in the face-off between the management of Caverton Helicopters and members of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE).

NUATE’s General Secretary, Mr Olayinka Abioye, confirmed the development in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos.

“We have just received an invitation to come to Abuja for a meeting with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

“We are hoping that the issues raised by the union will be addressed and an amicable resolution will be reached by both parties at the meeting,’’ Abioye said.

NAN reports that the airline’s management and the aviation union had been in a dispute over allegations of persistent anti-labour practices by the company.

The union had in a letter addressed to the management of Caverton Helicopters, threatened to ground the airline’s operations in Lagos, Warri and Port Harcourt.

They had maintained that the industrial action would commence if the salaries of their members were not reinstated by the airline after April 6.

However, the Managing Director of the airline, Mr Josiah Choms, had told aviation correspondents that the company only reduced the salaries of the workers, which had being paid up-to-date.

Choms had noted that the clientele of the company had reduced due to the fall in oil price, adding that management had tried to explain the situation on ground to the union.