Kenya aviation workers' union calls off strike after pay agreement

A Kenyan aviation workers' union has called off a strike meant to start at midnight after resolving a pay dispute with the industry regulator, a union official said on Wednesday.

The dispute was over the implementation of a collective bargaining agreement reached in June between the union and the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) regulator for a 10 percent pay rise that was to be backdated to July 2013 and to run up to June 2015.

"We have called off the strike after the authority signed the collective bargaining agreement concluded in June this year," Moss Ndiema, secretary general of the workers union, told Reuters after a day long meeting with KCAA officials.

"The members of the union are going to enjoy enhanced benefits following the signing agreement."

Among those who would have gone on strike were air traffic controllers, whose action would have paralysed airports including the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport -- Africa's fourth-busiest and a regional hub.

The union, with a membership of about 7,000, also includes some airline staff, fire-fighters, security, ground crews and cargo handlers in all major airports in Kenya.