Unpaid TSA: Aviation Workers Set Seven-Day Deadline
By Admin, Lagos
Aviation workers have renewed their demand for the remittance of outstanding 5 per cent Ticket Sales Charges (TSC), issuing a fresh seven-day ultimatum to airline operators and other indebted organisations to settle the debts or face nationwide industrial action.
The notice was jointly issued by the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) after an earlier 14-day ultimatum, served on July 8, expired on July 23 without the affected operators complying.
The unions warned that failure to remit the statutory charges is depriving aviation agencies of critical revenue required to sustain safe and efficient operations across the country’s aviation sector.
The five per cent Ticket Sales Charge is a statutory levy deducted from every airline ticket sold in Nigeria and is expected to be remitted to the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) for distribution among relevant aviation agencies to support their operational and financial obligations.
In a statement signed by ATSSSAN General Secretary, Frances Akinjole, and NUATE Deputy General Secretary, Odinaka Igbokwe, the unions expressed concern over what they described as persistent non-compliance by airline operators and other organisations owing the charges.
According to the statement, the continued withholding of the funds has weakened the financial capacity of aviation agencies and adversely affected workers’ welfare.
”Our earlier 14-day ultimatum has expired, and regrettably, willful non-compliance has been recorded,” the unions stated.
”The aviation agencies remain starved of the required funds to keep our skies safe, while the conditions of service of our members in the various agencies continue to be jeopardised because of the non-remittance of the Ticket Sales Charge.”
The unions further warned that the situation poses a significant threat to aviation safety and security, noting that inadequate funding could hamper the ability of agencies to effectively discharge their regulatory and operational responsibilities.
Describing the development as unacceptable, they stressed that they could no longer remain silent while the industry’s safety standards were put at risk.
”We can no longer helplessly fold our hands and allow the safety of our airspace to remain compromised. We hereby issue a seven-day notice to every TSC defaulter to remit the total debt owed to the agencies. Failure to do so will result in our unions taking concrete actions at their various premises,” the statement added.
The latest notice raises the possibility of nationwide picketing if the affected airline operators and other organisations fail to settle the outstanding Ticket Sales Charges within the stipulated period.