Aviation workers issue seven-day strike notice over labour disputes

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union(KAWU)  Secretary General Moss Ndiema[Benard Orwongo, Standard]

Aviation workers have issued a fresh seven-day strike notice effective Monday, vowing to ground operations at all airports across the country if their long-standing labour disputes  not are resolved.

A July 17 meeting of the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) in Nairobi resolved that the industrial action will affect operations at the Kenya Airports Authority, Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), Kenya Airways and Jambojet.

KAWU Secretary-General Moss Ndiema accused the employers of ignoring court orders, frustrating collective bargaining agreements, victimising union members and undermining workers’ rights.

“We have exhausted dialogue, gone to court and honoured every process. Now employers must honour their obligations,” the union demanded.

At KCAA, the union said its biggest grievance is the failure to conclude a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA),saying employees have worked without a new CBA for more than a decade.

“The last CBA expired in June 2015. Since July that year, our members have had no CBA. Imagine earning less today than what was negotiated over 10 years ago,” the union said.

It also accused KCAA of introducing “frustrating” human resource policies without consulting the union, arguing that the changes downgraded employees’ job grades while increasing senior management salaries.

The union further protested the continued employment of staff on contract basis despite a court order directing KCAA to absorb them into permanent terms by the end of last year.

At the Kenya Airports Authority, KAWU opposed the deployment of National Youth Service (NYS) personnel to undertake airport security and fire fighting duties, accusing management of deliberately failing to recruit permanent staff.

At Kenya Airways, the union accused management of interfering with disciplinary procedures, saying legal officers had taken over functions reserved for security and human resource departments.

At Jambojet, the union accused the airline of aggressively resisting unionisation.

The latest strike threat comes barely three months after aviation workers paralysed operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport for two days, disrupting flights and leaving thousands of passengers stranded.