A meeting between the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) and the Kenya Airport Workers' Union (KAWU) on Thursday ended in an impasse after the two sides failed to agree on any of the issues raised by airport staff.
The talks followed a seven-day industrial action notice issued by the union, demanding urgent action on workers’ grievances.
Speaking after the meeting, KAWU Secretary General Moss Ndiema said none of the seven issues raised had been resolved.
“There was only an attempt on one issue, which was set aside for further consultations before it could be addressed,” he said.
“Today we want to confirm that after we issued our strike notice on September 23rd, we held a meeting with the KAA management in an attempt to resolve the issues. Unfortunately, we’ve not been able to resolve any issue, not even one. With at least seven items, I can say there was only an attempt on one, relating to a meeting supposed to happen in Naivasha to deliberate on the human resource instruments. The rest remain unresolved,” Ndiema added.
He warned that if the airport workers’ strike begins before their grievances are addressed, they will only return to work after the entire KAA Board is fired.
“Our irreducible minimum is all the issues raised. We will take nothing less. Today we are communicating to the country and to the government: fire the entire KAA Board. They have failed,” Ndiema insisted.
At the heart of the standoff is the alleged transfer of Ground Flight Safety (GFS) operations from KAA to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), a move the union says was done without consultation and could lead to massive job losses and reduced revenue for KAA.
In a letter dated September 22, 2025, Ndiema warned that the GFS transfer was already having dire consequences.
“Despite this matter being of grave concern to the Union, the management has neither consulted us nor shared with us any information regarding the matter,” he said, adding that KCAA had already hired its own GFS staff, confirming workers’ worst fears.
The union has also accused KAA of failing to confirm more than 500 employees from contract to permanent and pensionable terms despite years of service.
Other grievances include the failure to substantively appoint staff who have been promoted, non-payment of overtime allowances for Wilson Airport workers for over six months, and the dismantling of the human resources department, which the union says has crippled the resolution of key labour issues.
Three Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) also remain unresolved, according to the union.