Aviation workers issue strike notice, demand board resignation

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union has issued a seven-day strike notice.

According to the union, board incompetence, failure to confirm contract staff, and other grievances are among the issues that need to be addressed.

Union's Secretary General, Moss Ndiema, noted that workers have witnessed systemic inefficiencies and incompetence within the current board, whose poor governance and lack of foresight have led the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) to make several bad decisions and commitments.

“The epitome of the Board's incompetence and lack of touch with reality is the recent events involving the Adani deal and other decisions that point to the Board not serving the best interests of Kenyans as the custodians of the public entity called KAA, which the citizens have entrusted them to manage,” said Ndiema.

The union has also called for the resignation of the board, citing a “loss of faith.”

“For their incompetence and sheer lack of direction, the Board ought to resign and give the appointing authority an opportunity to appoint a competent team to run the affairs of KAA,” he said.

The union is further demanding an immediate halt to the process of transferring the roles and functions performed by the GES department to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), warning that the move will lead to job losses.

They are also demanding that employees on contract terms be confirmed as permanent and pensionable, noting that there are currently more than 500 workers serving on fixed-term contracts that are substantively established and permanent in nature.

In addition, the union wants overtime payments for Wilson Airport staff, who they claim have not been paid for six months.

They insist that unless the issues raised are adequately addressed, workers will go on strike after seven days starting today.