The largest aviation union in Kenya said that it would go on strike starting on Monday, August 19, in protest over a planned agreement with an Indian business to build the nation’s largest airport. This kind of work stoppage could seriously disrupt the key travel center in east Africa.
The proposed agreement with India’s Adani Airport Holdings, according to the Kenya Aviation personnel Union, which represents airport employees, would result in job losses and attract non-Kenyan personnel. It was disclosed last month.
In a seven-day notice of strike issued on Monday, it demanded that the government revoke what it called the “unlawful intended sale of JKIA (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) to Adani Airport Holdings of India”.
The airport is not for sale, according to Kenya’s government, and there hasn’t been a decision taken on whether to move forward with a planned public-private collaboration to develop the facility. Kenya Airways, the country’s flag carrier, might also experience severe disruptions from any strike.
In the strike notice, Kenya Aviation Workers Union Secretary General Moss Ndiema stated, “We shall reconsider our intention to engage in industrial action… only if the Adani Airport Holdings Limited’s deal is abandoned in its entirety.” He reiterated his demand that the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) board as a whole step down.
On Monday, the KAA affirmed that it had been served with a strike notice. Elijah Miano, a representative, stated, “We are hopeful that a resolution can be reached through negotiation.”
Adani would renovate the passenger terminal and install a second runway at JKIA, according to the authority.
In a statement released last month regarding the Adani plan, the government stated that JKIA needed immediate improvements as it was overbooked and handling more people than it could handle. It cited instances such as leaky roofs that it claimed had resulted in “international embarrassment.”
