Airport Workers Call Off Strike After Signing Deal With Govt

This means that normal operations are set to resume at JKIA as well as at the airports in Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret where passengers were stranded most of Wednesday, September 11.

Airport Workers Call Off Strike After Signing Deal With Govt
Passengers stranded at JKIA as of September 11, 2024. /PHOTO

Striking aviation workers have accepted to resume work after inking a return-to-work deal with the government, following a tense standoff that left hundreds of passengers stranded at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi.

Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, Moses Ndiema, the Secretary General of the Kenya Airport Workers Union (KAWU) and Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary General, Francis Atwoli confirmed this, but the dispute over the government’s plan to lease the airport to India’s Adani Group remains unresolved.

This means that normal operations are set to resume at JKIA as well as at the airports in Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret where passengers were stranded most of Wednesday, September 11.

As part of the deal to resume work, the government will pave the way for scrutiny of documents detailing the proposed 30-year lease deal of JKIA by Indian conglomerate Adani Holdings.

Passengers stranded at JKIA and Moi International Airports in Mombasa as airport workers strike at Kisumu and Eldoret Airports. /VIRAL TEA KE

During the negotiations, facilitated by the Ministry of Transport and union leaders, an agreement was reached for the workers to resume duties. However, the workers were granted veto powers, allowing them to stop the controversial deal at any stage if their concerns were not addressed.

Details Of Agreement

Atwoli, who played a key role in the negotiations, announced that even though the workers had returned to their posts, the government had yet to convince them that the Adani deal was in their best interests.

As a result, according to Atwoli, a series of meetings is scheduled to take place over the next 10 days to review the specifics of the deal.

“We undertake to go through them within 10 working days and flag out areas of our concern, which shall immediately be pointed out with a view of jointly engaging in discussion with the government, Kenya Airways, and Kenya Airports Authority after we have flagged out our concerns,” Atwoli said.

“Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) shall not enter into any final agreement without consensus from the Kenya Aviation Workers Union,” Atwoli declared, emphasising the union’s continued opposition to the proposed takeover.

Moss Ndiema, Secretary General of KAWU, reinforced this position. “We have not said that we are endorsing the Adani deal,” Ndiema snapped. “This return to work is conditional, and we have been given the power to veto the agreement at any point if it does not align with the workers’ interests.”

KAWU went on to state that they agreed that they shall be represented in all the negotiations by two people.

It was also agreed that the parties, that is the government and KAA, shall not enter into any final agreement or append their signatures without concurrence with the Kenya Aviation Workers Union.

Additionally, the KAA and the management of the national airline Kenya Airways were asked to expedite Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBA) particularly the pending CBA negotiations, within two months.

The workers also called off the strike after they agreed with the government that there shall be no victimization of either party or parties, whether employers or workers, as a result of the strike.

Aerial view of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi. /FILE