Phew. Air carriers and travelers can have peace of mind. Following mediation by the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, current President of the African Union, the Union of Air Traffic Controllers’ Unions, Usycaa, in the bosom of Asecna, of which Madagascar is a part, decided to suspend the notice 48-hour strike which should be effective tomorrow. But Usycaa keeps up the pressure. It intends to “observe this suspension as long as the Administration of Asecna demonstrates good faith during the discussions to come. To reserve the right to reactivate its strike notice, if by chance the conditions for a direct and frank dialogue are compromised or if the conclusions of this dialogue are not satisfactory”.
Possible disruptions in air traffic, after the health crisis, would have disastrous consequences on the economy of the sub-region. One of the reasons invoked to defuse this stop has been in the air since the weekend. The Malagasy Minister of Transport and Meteorology took care and was right to refer the discussions to the governing bodies of Asecna.
Usycaa is an apolitical non-profit trade union organization, created on October 25, 2018 during the founding congress held at the Treichville Labor Exchange in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. It brings together the unions of air traffic controllers in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Comoros, Central African Republic, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo. Ten union presidents signed press release number 5 in this showdown. Syndicam’s Tafangy Landisoa signed for Madagascar. The tension has subsided but attention remains focused on these claims at the regional level. The protesters point out that the sensitivity of the job of air traffic controller, being one of the most stressful functions in the world, it cannot accommodate a conflictual, anxiety-provoking and depressive working atmosphere.