Workers Strike Paralyzes Operations at Gabonese Airport
Posted on: Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 09:00 CDT
Workers strike paralyzes operations at Gabonese airport
LIBREVILLE, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Gabonese air-traffic controllers have downed their tools in yet another one-day strike, paralyzing almost all operations at the country's main international airport in the capital, according to official sources.
The Leon Mba International Airport in Libreville was again paralyzed by a 24-hour renewable strike on Monday morning when air- traffic controllers refused to work owing to a long-running wage dispute with their employer, the transport ministry said in a statement Monday.
The workers, who are employed by the now beleaguered Agency for the Safety of Air Navigation in Africa and Madagascar (ASECNA), are demanding the payment of overdue premiums, according to labor union officials.
There was no commercial flights that departed or arrived at the airport in the Gabonese capital on Monday after 7 o'clock in the morning, according to eyewitness accounts.
All the planes that had not left the airport by Monday morning remained paralyzed on the ground even as talks to resolve the crisis began in Port-Gentil, the economic capital, according to a labor union sources.
Meanwhile, ASECNA national office for Gabon, which is based in Libreville, has so far refused to comment on the latest strike to hit its operations in the recent past.
On May 27 this year, air-traffic controllers had launched another strike on the basis of the same grievances, but the matter was resolved after the government stepped in and promised to ensure that the concerns of the workers were addressed by the company.
Over the recent past, ASECNA, which is mainly charged with overseeing operations in the airports and airfields in most French- speaking African countries and Madagascar, has been experiencing financial and technical problems.
(c) 2008 Xinhua News Agency - CEIS. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.
Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS
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