Aviation union suspends strike against Bristow, Caverton Helicopters

The National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers has called off its strike against Bristow Helicopters Limited and Caverton Helicopters Limited.
The General Secretary of NAAPE, Aba Ocheme, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Lagos.
NAN reports that the union had on February 1 grounded the operations of the airlines over issues relating to staff welfare.
It had also ordered its members in both airlines to withdraw their services indefinitely until all the pending issues were resolved.
Ocheme said the strike at Caverton had been fully suspended, while that of Bristow was temporarily suspended, to enable the union to further dialogue with the management.
He said: “We have signed an agreement with the management of Caverton, and the strike has been called off.
“For Bristow, we will still be meeting with the management on Thursday, to iron out some issues affecting our members.
“But in the interim, we have directed our members to resume at their duty posts so that operations can continue.”
NAN reports that NAAPE had accused the management of Caverton Helicopters of non-remittance of pensions deducted from staff salaries for over two years.
The union also alleged that the airline’s management had to renegotiate the Conditions of Service which had already expired, despite several appeals.
On Bristow, the union accused the airline of discriminating against indigenous pilots and engineers and abuse of Nigeria’s law guiding expatriates’ quota system.
It alleged that the management had continued to deny qualified indigenous engineers promotion to senior positions, while continually training expatriates to hold same positions in perpetuity.