Three major aviation unions have warned the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) that they will resume a suspended strike if the agency fails to honour the agreement signed with workers in January 2025.
The unions — National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Association of Nigeria Aviation Professionals (ANAP), and Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) — made this known in a joint letter made available to the press.
They said the management of NiMet has broken the deal reached with the workers earlier this year and has failed to show any willingness to resolve the issues.
“We are highly disheartened to note that the management has reneged on its promises to the workers via the agreement it signed with our unions on 28th January 2025,” the letter read.
The unions accused NiMet of failing to start talks or implement an allowance that was supposed to begin by the end of February 2025.
“One and a half months later, the management has refused to negotiate, let alone implement the allowance. They have not even explained why,” the unions added.
Other complaints include the refusal to release a copy of the conditions of service document that was sent to the Ministry. The unions suspect foul play as their signatories are being denied access to the same document they signed.
They also criticised the agency for not implementing salary relativity and for prioritising retreats for top officials instead of training senior staff (GL10–14).
They described the situation as “troubling and worrisome” and said the goodwill extended by the workers when they suspended an earlier strike had been wasted by the agency’s poor response.
“The management is hereby given till Wednesday, April 16, 2025, to implement all aspects of the agreement. Otherwise, we shall resume the suspended strike without further notice,” the unions warned.
Some NiMet staff also spoke anonymously to the press, confirming the frustration on ground.
One staff said the 25–35% wage increase has been approved but not paid. “We expect payment in April or May, but we are not sure,” the staff said.
Another staff explained that since the 2019 minimum wage took effect, NiMet staff got only 10% of what they were due. “They paid some arrears in August 2024, but it covered only 34 months out of 43. Nine months are still unpaid,” the worker said.
Also, the Federal Government had announced a N40,000 peculiar allowance for civil servants, but NiMet staff say they’ve received nothing.
“We saw the circular. But it’s just paper. No money has entered our accounts,” another staff said.
They also mentioned that the recently approved new minimum wage hasn’t been implemented for them. “We don’t even know our fate. We saw the document, but there is no sign of payment. They said NiMet is not captured in the budget,” the staff added.
One staff described the daily struggles: “House rent don high, school fees don go up. We are civil servants, but we dey suffer. Most of us are on loan. Some people no fit come work because transport money no dey.”
According to them, the problem started from the way the 2019 minimum wage was implemented. “We got only 10% in 2023. When Tinubu became president, a new 25–35% wage increase was announced, but till now, we haven’t seen a kobo,” one of them said.
On the N35,000 wage support, the staff said, “They paid NiMet staff only till February last year. After that, they stopped. But other ministries continued receiving theirs.”
Workers are now calling on government to quickly intervene before things get worse. “We are begging. Let the government do something. Because the pain don too much. We are part of this country, and we work hard too,” one said.
Earlier this year, the same unions gave NiMet a 14-day notice to address these same issues. They even threatened to go on strike starting from February 4, 2025, before they suspended it for peace to reign.
Now, they say enough is enough.
