As part of the deal to resume work, the government will pave the way for scrutiny of documents detailing the proposed 30-year JKIA lease deal with Indian conglomerate Adani Holdings.
Kenya's airport workers will resume work after reaching a return-to-work deal with the government, Transport Cabinet Secretary Davis Chirchir, their union leader Moss Ndiema and Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) boss Francis Atwoli have announced.
This means that normal operations will resume at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and airports in Mombasa, Kisumu and Eldoret, where passengers were stranded for most of Wednesday.
As part of the agreement to resume work, the government will pave the way for scrutiny of documents detailing the proposed 30-year JKIA lease deal with Indian conglomerate Adani Holdings.
CS Chirchir promised that the Adani deal would be tabled in court, where the government has been sued, to allow open scrutiny.
“We will work together and build points of convergence. We have an agreement. We are aware that we have been taken to court. We will now present all the documents to court to ensure the public understands,” he said.
In a resolution read by Mr Atwoli, the teams agreed to give the aviation workers’ union 10 days to scrutinise documents in the Adani deal, before another meeting is held with stakeholders.
“The way forward will be determined by the outcomes of deliberations after 10 days,” the Cotu boss said.
Mr Atwoli said the government has also agreed to enter into salary negotiations with the union, as well as a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), in two months.
Mr Ndiema, the aviation workers' union leader, insisted that the deal reached did not mean that workers are now okay with the Adani deal.
"We have not said that we accept Adani," he said.
Stranded travellers
Travellers stranded at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi on September 11, 2024, during a strike by aviation workers protesting the proposed lease of JKIA to Indian conglomerate Adani Enterprises.
Photo credit: Wilfred Nyangaresi | Nation Media Group
Hundreds of travellers were stranded while others had their travel schedules disrupted due to the strike that paralysed airports operations.
The disruptions left several travellers stranded at Entebbe and Kigali airports in Uganda and Rwanda, respectively. Uganda Airlines flies twice daily from Entebbe to Nairobi, while RwandAir operates three flights to Nairobi out of Kigali daily. Ethiopian operates four daily flights, in and out of Nairobi.
Kenya Airways, whose hub is JKIA, continued to operate some local and regional flights, including from Entebbe as workers downed tools. However, Moi International Airport in Mombasa, Kisumu International and Eldoret airports were also disrupted, forcing local carriers such as Jambojet to suspend flights.
The airport workers union had announced the strike effective Wednesday after it emerged that the government proposes to lease JKIA to Indian conglomerate Adani Group for 30 years, with the union fearing the transaction will lead to job losses.
On Tuesday, the High Court temporarily suspended the proposed plans to lease the airport till October 8 when a hearing of the case would be fixed. The case was filed by the Kenya Human Rights Commission and the Law Society of Kenya, challenging the proposed lease, which the High Court certified as urgent.
