- KQ boss Allan Kilavuka has called for a truce, saying the pilots' strike will jeopardise the firm's restructuring plan which seeks to return the airline to profitability in 2024.
- Last week, the pilots' lobby gave KQ 14 days to reinstate the staff provident fund which was withdrawn in July 2020 as Covid-19 squeezed the airline's revenue.
Image: FILE
Kenya Airways pilots are on go slow as the legal team prepares a response to the order suspending the strike notice issued on October 19.
“The strike is on,” a Kenya Pilots Association representative told the Star on Wednesday.
He said the association is waiting on its legal team before issuing a comparative statement.
Efforts to reconcile pilots and KQ's management hit a dead end after the two functions maintained hard stances on contested issues.
On Tuesday, they held press conferences, with pilots saying that KQ must respect the contractual agreements and stop harassing its members before any meaningful talks.
Kapla secretary general Muriithi Nyagah said the union is open to negotiation, saying they fully support the airline's recovery plan.
KQ boss Allan Kilavuka has called for a truce, saying the pilots' strike will jeopardise the firm's restructuring plan which seeks to return the airline to profitability in 2024.
Last week, the pilots' lobby gave KQ 14 days to reinstate the staff provident fund which was withdrawn in July 2020 as Covid-19 squeezed the airline's revenue.
According to Kalpa, the airline owes its members at least Sh700 million plus interest.
“We request that KQ's management obey contractual agreements, stop harassment of union officials, weed out the unqualified personnel and resolve poor governance,” Nyaga said.
On the Provident Fund, the association said the act is a violation of the terms and conditions of service of its members and clause 38(a) of the CBA in force between the association and KQ.
Murithi said the retirement scheme was withdrawn in July 2020 because the company did not have money without prior consultations.
“The retirement scheme is part of our contractual agreement with the airline. It is part of our remuneration. It is evil for KQ's administration to force a change of employees' contractual terms it wishes,” Nyaga said.
He said the company is making money, all flights are full and are charging heavy airfares yet they have declined to reinstate the provident fund.
He said pilots unlike other employees have no pension on which they can fall back upon retirement.
Kalpa claims some of the KQ managers have taken to harass lobby officials to curtail the union's activities.
“They have declined to honour even recommendations of intermediates from the Ministry of Labour and even taken unilateral action to sack members of the executive council and as we speak there is an ongoing victimisation of them,” he said.
He said the KQ management has also continued to blatantly breach and abuse the Kenya Civil Aviation Regulations, certain clauses in the CBA and legally binding agreements with impunity.