NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 23 – The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (KAWU) has issued a seven-day strike notice to the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), accusing the board of incompetence and threatening industrial action unless six grievances are addressed.
In a letter dated September 23 and addressed to the Acting Managing Director and CEO of KAA, the union said all unionisable employees would down their tools upon expiry of the notice period if their demands are not met.
KAWU’s Secretary General Moss Ndiema cited “loss of faith in the KAA Board of Directors” as the foremost grievance, saying poor governance, systemic inefficiencies, and lack of foresight had led to bad decisions, including the controversial Adani lease deal.
“The Board is not serving the best interests of Kenyans as custodians of KAA. For their incompetence and lack of direction, the Board ought to resign,” the letter copied to Labour Cabinet Secretary states.
The union also raised alarm over the reported transfer of the Ground Flight Safety (GFS) department from KAA to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), warning that the move would trigger job losses, redundancies, and massive revenue losses for the authority.
The union also cited KAA’s failure to confirm over 500 contract employees to permanent and pensionable terms.
Other grievances outlined in the strike notice include failure to issue substantive appointment letters to promoted employees and failure to pay six months’ overtime dues for staff at Wilson Airport.
The union further faulted the KAA board for what it termed as the crippling and dismantling of the Human Resources department, a development it said resulted in paralyzing staff welfare and pending CBA processes.
KAWU warned that unless the issues are conclusively addressed within the seven days, it will have “no other alternative but to resort to industrial action.”