NLC warns as AMCON mulls sack of 1,500 workers at Arik over revenue lull
Relying on credible indications, the leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has ambushed the new management of Arik Air, the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) not to think near any plan to sack workers it met on ground to avoid its wrath.
Already, signals are emerging that more than 1,500 of Arik Airline’s estimated 2,000 workforce may be retrenched before the end of this month as part of AMCON’s strategy to manage dwindling resources and pay back debtors.
Arik Air has about 2,000 workers spread across its local and foreign operations, while it operated a fleet of 28 aircraft at optimal capacity, which enabled it to generate enough revenue to meet its over N1 billion wage bill.
A credible source who pleaded anonymity hinted Business Hilights weekend that if the sack plan will work, it may begin from the company’s expatriate staff considering the recent suspension of flights on international routes where many of them work.
Already, several expatriate pilots have on their own left the country, while several indigenous pilots and cabin crew are also reported to be experiencing some form of redundancy, with the scaling down of the airline’s operations.
