Government gives strikers go ahead

The Government has no problem with the Kenya Aviation Allied Workers Union (Kaawu) going on strike, a senior official has said.

Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere, said the union has every right to go on strike as long as they are within the law.

"Strikes are normal everywhere considered its done within the law. When a notice is given, it’s not illegal. But everything must be done within the trade union laws," he said.

He said the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) must agree to listen to the union officials and try to settle the dispute.
The minister was speaking after touring the railway line from Nairobi-Embakasi to Kikuyu, on Wednesday.

"We want to involve the human right bodies, investors, the Government, environments and the residence on a fact finding mission by touring the lines to see by themselves what we are talking about," he said.

The country’s airports workers umbrella body issued a 21 - day strike notice over the weekend to the ministry of Labour and Human resource citing poor working conditions.
The employees have also taken issue with KAA’s failure to implement a collective bargaining agreement, which proposed improved pay and terms of service.

The union expects to marshal its 1,600 members, drawn from various sections of the airport, to lay down their tools to compel the employer to meet the demands.
The workers who include fire fighters, security, ground crews and cargo handlers could paralyse operations in all the eight major airports across the country.

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Published on February 28, 2008,
Story By Brian Adero