By Seedy Jobe
Employees of Gambia International Airlines staged a sit-down strike at the company’s headquarters at Banjul International Airport on Thursday, accusing the government of favoring private ground-handling company NIRO at the expense of the state-owned national carrier.
The workers walked out of their offices and gathered outside the GIA headquarters, saying years of complaints over what they described as an uneven playing field had gone largely unaddressed. A separate report on Thursday confirmed that GIA employees were staging a peaceful protest over grievances involving NIRO.
The workers said the dispute, which they contend has persisted for nearly four years, is increasingly threatening GIA’s financial stability and long-term survival.
They alleged that major airline clients and ground-handling contracts have increasingly shifted to NIRO, leaving GIA with fewer customers and mounting financial pressure. GIA employees said the company currently handles seven airlines and claimed that new business has increasingly gone to its private competitor.
Public financial records lend some support to concerns about GIA’s loss of business, though they do not establish the workers’ broader allegations of government favoritism. A 2024 report by the State-Owned Enterprises Commission identified the loss of Brussels Airlines and ASKY Airlines to NIRO as among GIA’s biggest operational challenges, estimating the resulting revenue loss at more than 59 million dalasis for that year.
GIA, established in 1996, is a public enterprise whose operations include ground handling, cargo services, travel services, and Hajj and Umrah operations. NIRO describes itself as a private aviation services company providing ground handling and in-flight catering at Banjul International Airport.
The protesting workers said Thursday’s action followed years of unsuccessful efforts to have their concerns addressed by management and government officials.
Ramatoulie Cham, a customer service agent at GIA, told Kerr Fatou that employees had grown frustrated with what she described as repeated promises that failed to produce meaningful changes. She warned that Thursday’s protest could be only the beginning if their concerns remain unresolved.
Cham argued that GIA, as a national institution, should receive greater government support and said employees were determined not to watch the company deteriorate.
“This did not happen before NIRO came. During Jammeh’s time, he never compromised GIA,” she said.
Cham alleged that GIA’s finances had been depleted as business shifted elsewhere and questioned why a government-owned company would be placed at a disadvantage against a private competitor.
She also called on GIA’s managing director, Numo K. Sanneh, to address employees directly. GIA’s official website identifies Mr. Sanneh as the company’s managing director.
Alieu Saidykhan, an employee in GIA’s Engineering Department, said workers believed President Adama Barrow had not been fully informed about the problems confronting the company and appealed to him to intervene.
“If there is one thing we know about Barrow, it is that he listens,” Saidykhan said.
He said more than 400 Gambian families depend on GIA for their livelihoods and stressed that the protest was not politically motivated.
“This is a fight for survival,” he said, adding that workers began experiencing the problems after NIRO entered the ground-handling business several years ago.
Sirajo Wanda, who works in Customer Assistance, placed responsibility more directly on government institutions, alleging that officials at the relevant ministry had blocked correspondence from GIA and that some officials had vested interests in NIRO.
“We are citizens, and we have the right,” Wanda said. “Let Barrow know that all these people behind him are not telling him the truth.”
Wanda argued that Banjul International Airport was too small to sustain two ground-handling companies under the existing arrangement and called on the government to intervene.
Another employee, Mam Boye Ndow, raised concerns about pricing in the ground-handling market. He said NIRO initially entered the aviation sector as a catering company before expanding into ground handling, where it now competes directly with GIA.
Ndow alleged that differences in pricing had placed GIA at a disadvantage. He also questioned why GIA had been unable to secure a catering license despite competing with a company that provides both ground-handling and in-flight catering services.
“What we want is for them to be fair to us,” Ndow said. “Let them make the market price equal for everybody because we, GIA, are the national carrier.”
Badou Jagne, GIA’s corporate planning supervisor, said the government had a critical role to play in resolving the dispute, arguing that the airline is a national institution whose future affects more than its employees.
He said GIA’s senior management also had a responsibility to address workers’ concerns and expressed hope that the dispute could be resolved peacefully and in the broader interest of Gambians.
Kerr Fatou approached Omar Jako, chairman of the GIA Staff Association, for comment, but he declined to speak.
The workers’ accusations of government favoritism, interference in correspondence and officials having financial or other interests in NIRO could not be independently verified. No response from the government, GIA management or NIRO to those specific allegations was immediately available.
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