Striking KQ technical staff promised January pay rise

Kenya Airways’ technical staff agreed to call off Monday’s strike after chief executive Mbuvi Ngunze promised to review their pay and allowances beginning next month.

Details of the truce are contained in a memorandum Mr Ngunze wrote on Monday evening, which also promised to change the working shift patterns in a fortnight, meeting one of the key demands of the striking staff.

Mr Ngunze also promised not to reprimand any employees who took part in the industrial action as long as they “go back to work immediately.”

“This (pay structure and flight allowances) review is awaiting detailed deliberation by the board’s human resource committee as it has implications on staff remuneration,” Mr Ngunze said, adding that he expected to have the board’s position by the third week of January 2017.

“At that point, I will be able to more formally communicate on the changes proposed. This may not affect all staff, but will take into account the current realities.”

A section of KQ’s engineers on Monday downed their tools demanding better pay, reinstatement of allowances and management changes, occasioning flight delays and cancellations that inconvenienced thousands of passengers.

Passengers flying to Juba, Abuja, Dar es Salaam and Addis Ababa were among those affected, but the situation improved later in the day allowing 51 out of 58 scheduled flights to take off.

Operations at the airline’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) hub were back to normal on Tuesday.

The strike was preceded by a November 29 letter the engineers wrote to KQ chairman Michael Joseph complaining of poor pay, which they described as the lowest locally and internationally.

The engineers, who are in charge of aircraft maintenance, refuelling and take-off approvals, also sought to have their working shifts amended to reduce fatigue and maximise productivity.

READ: Kenya Airways staff demand better pay with strike action

The memorandum to Mr Joseph also called for clarity in the management structure, indicating that employees are currently working under an unclear managerial structure that is characterised by duplication of roles.

Further, the engineers wanted improvements to their shift schedules, a demand Mr Ngunze has promised to implement in the next two weeks when streamlining the change-over from the system which is in place.

“I have agreed that for now, we will implement the block shift with back up. We need at least two weeks for implementation of modalities and change,” he said.

Block shifts, which KQ scrapped a while back, entailed engineers reporting to work at 6 a.m and clocking out 12 hours later. Employees on this schedule work for two days and two nights then take three days off.

At the moment, they use a demand-based system, which they say leaves them fatigued since they are expected to work for longer cycles in order to accumulate roughly 180 working hours a month.

Some engineers, report to work at 2 p.m and leave at midnight.

They therefore have more shifts to meet their monthly quota, a system they say was imposed on them and which is risky to the business as they reportedly don’t rest enough.

The technicians also wanted a reshuffle of senior management within their department – in a move they say should also include the exit of a director they claim has failed to address their concerns.

The workers allege that under the director, the department has seen mass exodus of staff to competing carriers.

KQ has recently expressed frustration at the loss of highly skilled engineers and pilots to rival carriers. In the past one year alone, the airline has lost more than 60 pilots as Middle Eastern airlines stepped up head-hunting in the region.

Dubai-based Emirates Group recently began advertising locally for Kenyan-based electrical, electronic, mechanical and automobile engineers to join its ranks.

In his memo, Mr Ngunze made no mention of management changes as demanded by the striking technicians, but cautioned them against intimidating their fellow employees.

The national carrier has faced three industrial strikes this year, with employees decrying several matters ranging from salaries to how the cash-strapped company is being run.

In October, KQ averted a potentially-crippling pilots’ strike by acquiescing to demands for managerial changes. The airline’s pilots had demanded the removal of the airline’s board chairman and chief executive officer.

State House intervention, however, removed the strike threat leading to the departure of Dennis Awori as chairman and his replacement by Mr Joseph.  Mr Ngunze is set to leave at the end of March 2017.