NAIROBI, Kenya
A Nairobi court has ordered
striking Kenya Airways pilots to return to work by Wednesday morning after the
days-long walkout forced dozens of flight cancellations and left thousands of
passengers stranded.Kenya Airlines Pilots Association Chairman Captain Timothy Njoroge (right) and Secretary General Murithi Nyagah before the Labour Relations Court on November 8, 2022 at the Milimani Law Court.
The Kenya Airline Pilots
Association (KALPA) launched the strike at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport on Saturday, defying a court order issued last week
against the industrial action.
Justice Anna Mwaure on Tuesday
ordered "the Kenya Airways pilots to resume their duties as pilots by 6:00
am on 9th November 2022 unconditionally".
The walkout has exacerbated
the woes facing the troubled national carrier, which has been running losses
for years, despite the government pumping in millions of dollars to keep it
afloat.
There was no immediate
response from KALPA to the court order, which came as the airline announced
that most of its flights had been cancelled due to the strike.
The carrier on Monday
announced that it was ending its recognition of the union and withdrawing from
their collective bargaining deal, accusing KALPA of "exposing the airline
to irreparable damage".
Mwaure said the court would
now consider the issue and ordered the airline's management to allow the pilots
"to perform their duties without harassing them or intimidating them and
especially by not taking any disciplinary action against any of them".
The airline, which is part
owned by the government as well as Air France-KLM, is one of the biggest
in Africa, connecting multiple countries to Europe and Asia.
On Sunday, the airline said 56
flights had been cancelled due to the strike, disrupting 12,000 passengers'
plans.
The protesting pilots, who
make up 10 percent of the workforce, are pressing for the reinstatement of
contributions to a provident fund and payment of all salaries stopped during
the Covid-19 pandemic.
The carrier has warned that
the strike would jeopardise its recovery, estimating losses at $2.5 million per
day.
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