• KALPA secretary general Murithi Nyagah said there will be no Kenya Airways aircraft departing Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (1KIA) flown by a KALPA member.
• The captain said they had hoped the management of the airline would soften its hard stance and engage in a negotiation on the issues raised.
Image: FILE
The Kenya Airline Pilots Association has said they are being forced to withdraw labour from the national airline Kenya Airways.
They said their issues are not being heard or resolved.
In a statement dated November 4, KALPA secretary general Murithi Nyagah said there will be no Kenya Airways aircraft departing Jomo Kenyatta International Airport flown by a KALPA member from Saturday.
Nyagah said even after issuing a strike report as a resort to seek better working conditions, the management did not engage in a meaningful attempt to solve the matter.
He said on October 19, the association issued a 14-day industrial action notice to the management of Kenya Airways.
"This was the last resort in our attempts to seek better working conditions for our members and ensure that Kenya Airways is managed professionally," the statement read.
"The strike notice has since expired and we are therefore at liberty to exercise our right to withdraw our labour forthwith, as enshrined in Article 41, Chapter 4 of the Constitution."
Nyagah said they had hoped the management of the airline would soften its hard stance and engage in a negotiation on the issues raised.
"Kenya Airways management has not made any meaningful attempt to engage and have these matters resolved," he said.
The official however apologised for the inconveniences caused to those who planned to travel at the time.
Last week, the pilots' lobby gave KQ 14 days to reinstate the staff provident fund, which was withdrawn in July 2020 as Covid-19 squeezed the airline's revenue.
On Tuesday, the association held press conferences, with pilots saying that KQ must respect the contractual agreements and stop harassing its members before any meaningful talks.
On Wednesday, Nyagah said the association was 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 factions maintained hard stances on contested issues.
Nyagah however 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.