Tension is rising in the aviation industry after senior members of the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) accused some stakeholders of trying to place the union under the control of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).
In an open letter shared across the sector on Friday, the workers alleged that there are strong moves to ensure that the next ATSSSAN president comes from FAAN.
They described the move as suspicious because FAAN already leads two other major aviation unions. The National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) and the Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP) are currently headed by officials from FAAN.
The workers warned that giving FAAN control of a third union would create what they called a dangerous monopoly. They added that it would silence the voices of workers from other agencies.
The letter was signed by Comrade Aderemi Adeerinkomi, Chairman of the NCAA ATSSSAN branch, Comrade Ekip Eso, PRO of the NAMA branch, and Comrade Henry Okon, Secretary of the NAHCO Plc branch.
According to them, ATSSSAN is a national union that represents senior staff from all aviation agencies. These include NAMA, NCAA, FAAN, airlines, and service companies. They said the union was never created to serve the interests of only one agency.
The group stated that allowing one agency to dominate the union would damage fair representation, weaken bargaining power, and reduce trust among aviation workers.
They also questioned why FAAN should lead the union again, asking whether the agency contributes more money to the union or faces more labour problems than others.
The workers called on all aviation staff to reject any attempt to give FAAN full control of labour leadership. They insisted that the coming ATSSSAN elections must be transparent and open to all agencies.
They noted that the issue is not a fight against FAAN, but a fight against a pattern that could harm the future of labour unions in the aviation sector.
ATSSSAN elections are scheduled to hold on December 10 in Jos, Plateau State.
 accused some stakeholders of trying to place the union under the control of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN).){kind=link}