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Now that Nigeria has a new airline, will employees of its predecessor finally get the dues they are owed? asks Halima Ibrahim

Virgin Nigeria took to the skies at the end of June, thirteen months after the liquidation of the national carrier Nigeria Airways, leaving former employees of the defunct airline still waiting to receive pensions and gratuity payments now owed to them for over two years.

Top government officials have agreed to look into the arrears crisis following the efforts of the unions involved, who have threatened boycotts, and appealed to the ITF and embassies in six other countries for support. However the situation was still unresolved as TI went to press, and meanwhile union “ring leaders” were called for interrogation by the Nigerian security services over the “security threat” they were deemed to have posed.

In a letter to Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group Chairman, on 12 May, ITF General Secretary David Cockroft stated: “Virgin Nigeria is not simply a new company to begin operations in the country, but has taken over major assets and the route network of the liquidated Nigeria Airways. Consequently, Virgin Nigeria should be considered the successor company, and is thus responsible for achieving a satisfactory solution, if not legally then at least morally.”

Workers disregarded

The unions concerned, ITF affiliates Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the National association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), have berated the government for concentrating its efforts on completing all the formalities necessary to fly Virgin Nigeria while failing to ensure that the outstanding payments were settled.

Workers have been demanding outstanding salary and pension arrears, letters of retirement, three months’ pay in lieu of notice, gratuity, pension and other severance benefits since May 2004 when the liquidation of Nigeria Airways was announced.

In January 2005 the government finally agreed to address the first demand, paying 17 months salaries and 26 months pension arrears, but no progress has been made on addressing the other demands.

In May 2005, the workers held a public protest rally and procession. They addressed the press, insisting that “until all the liquidation processes are complete, no airline in any guise should fly as a national or flag carrier using the properties and routes already developed by Nigeria Airways”.

The government-appointed liquidator insisted that payment will be made only when workers vacated their official quarters. The unions felt this would amount to legal suicide, allowing the liquidator to get rid of them without paying them their entitlements.

Just before the inauguration of Virgin Nigeria, the minister of aviation claimed all the workers’ terminal benefits had been paid, leaving the coast clear for the new airline to take off. This was not true.

The struggle continues Godbless Ozegbe, former Nigeria Airways staff member in the engineering and maintenance department, reports more>>

Ownership questions

While telling the world that Virgin Nigeria is wholly a private entity, and that the federal government has no interest in it, the minister approved the renovation and remodification of the departure and arrival lounges of the Muritala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos – in the colours and logo of Virgin Nigeria.

This is being done with public funds, and has drawn loud protests from indigenous, domestic airline operators, airport workers and the general public, who now call him the “Minister of Virgin”.

In a letter to the minister last year, the ITF asserted that Nigeria Airways was a public service, and the workers were therefore, public servants. According to the Nigerian Constitution and Labour Act, the workers are therefore entitled to a gratuity and pension. Presumably in response to this assertion, the minister informed the workers’ representatives and the senate committee on aviation that

Nigeria Airways was never a Federal Government property, and therefore, the issue of gratuity and pension from the government should not even arise. However, he is yet to clarify who, if not the government, owned the airline.

Meanwhile, a militant faction who believes that the unions are being too “gentlemanly” about the matter has emerged from the workers’ body. It is called the Movement for the Actualisation of the Rights of Nigeria Airways Workers (MARNAW).

The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) has compiled a long retrenchment list, and the staff have joined MARNAW and domestic airline operators in calling for the minister’s resignation. Some embassies, politicians and concerned citizens have called on President Olusegun Obasanjo to wade into the matter.

Halima Ibrahim is an executive board member of ATSSSAN in Lagos, Nigeria.