Aviation workers issue strike notice 4 weeks after deal

Aviation workers have issued a fresh seven-day strike notice, raising the prospect of renewed disruption at the country’s airports just weeks after a two-day industrial action in February paralysed flight operations.

The Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) said it would resume strike action next Wednesday unless the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) honours a return-to-work formula signed on February 17.

In a statement, Kawu Secretary-General Moses Ndiema accused KCAA management of undermining the agreement that ended the earlier strike and formed the basis for ongoing negotiations over a collective bargaining agreement.

“The talks collapsed on the grounds that Kenya Civil Aviation Authority management is unable to respect the return-to-work agreement which we signed before Transport Cabinet Secretary David Chirchir on February 26, 2026,” Mr Ndiema said.

He said the parties had agreed, among other things, that employees in grades 4 and 5 would be unionised, that KCAA would obey all court orders and that neither side would victimize the other.

But Mr Ndiema said the authority had failed to live up to those commitments and was using the dispute to frustrate CBA negotiations.

“As a gimmick to frustrate the CBA negotiations, KCAA management has chosen to undermine the return-to-work formula, which is a foundation document upon which all the subsequent negotiations and talks are based,” he said.

The union also accused the authority of defying court decisions, including one involving an employee who was allegedly dismissed unfairly and has not been reinstated. Mr Ndiema further claimed that another employee was fired last week without due process.

“This is the law of the jungle, but that is not the way KCAA should behave. They need to show good example by obeying the law,” he said.

KAWU said it had therefore decided to reactivate the strike that was suspended under the February agreement. The union said KCAA had seven days to restore the return-to-work formula and comply with both the spirit and letter of the deal, as well as court decisions.

“If they don’t restore that return-to-work formula, obey the spirit and the letter of that agreement and obey every decision that the court has made, we are going to launch another strike action at KCAA next week,” Mr Ndiema said.

He added that the union would also push for changes in management, saying the dispute reflected what he described as incompetence in handling labour relations.

“We need the right people in those positions. We want people with some knowledge and skills on industrial relations,” he said.

Travel disruptions

The union also called on the Ministry of Transport to intervene, arguing the authority’s alleged defiance of an agreement brokered under the ministry’s watch raised doubts about whether it would honour any future settlement, including a new CBA.

The new warning is likely to alarm travellers and airlines still recovering from the February strike, when a two-day industrial action by KAWU members disrupted operations at major airports, including Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.

The walkout also caused widespread flight cancellations, delayed both domestic and international travel and left passengers stranded for hours.

That strike was driven by longstanding grievances over wages and delayed negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement. KAWU has said unionisable employees, especially at KCAA, have gone more than a decade without a salary review, with the last CBA signed in 2015.

The February strike was called off after the union reached an agreement with the Ministry of Transport, KCAA and the Kenya Airports Authority on a return-to-work formula and a process for resolving the labour dispute.

 “We don’t love strike actions. We want a solution to these problems. But in the event that there is no solution, by end of the day on Tuesday, on Wednesday next week, we will be advising all travellers to make alternative arrangements,” Mr Ndiema said.

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