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Many passengers were stranded on Wednesday at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, Kano State, following a protest by staff members of the Nigerian Meteorological Agency over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage.
The protest caused delays in several scheduled flights at the airport.
An airport staff member, who spoke to PUNCH Online on condition of anonymity, said the protest disrupted many flights, forcing the airport authority to cancel or delay them.
“As you know, flights are determined by weather, and NiMet is the agency providing weather information to pilots.
“So, though some flight operations are still ongoing, the protest has affected many flights,” he said.
It was gathered that many air travellers were left stranded as numerous flights experienced delays due to the protest.
The Northwest Zonal Chairman of the Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Employees, Timothy Meshelia, also confirmed that the protest disrupted several flights at the airport on Wednesday.
“The protesting staff are accusing the management of NiMet of failing to implement the N30,000 and N70,000 minimum wage, non-payment of staff allowances, ignoring requests to include omitted staff in past payments, and neglecting key training programmes, among other issues.
“The association has given the management one month to implement the new minimum wage or face industrial action,” he stated.
They also demanded that management take proactive measures to address the economic challenges faced by staff, including the payment of a subsistence allowance, as previously agreed with the unions.
As of the time of filing this report, officials of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, in Kano, had yet to make an official statement regarding the protest.
