KQ starts rehiring sacked staff
PHOTO | PHOEBE OKALL Aviation and Allied Workers Union chairperson Perpetua Mponjiwa addresses workers at the Kenya Airways headquarters in Nairobi on December 4, 2012. On December 3, a court ordered the airline to reinstate all the workers it sacked in September.
What you need to know:
- Fresh dispute erupts after workers refuse to sign letters over redeployment clause
- A source at Kenya Airways said the employees could not just be reinstated because of logistical and administrative issues
- Kenya Airways said their lawyers were still studying the court ruling and its implication before they advise on the next step
Kenya Airways on Tuesday began reinstating 447 workers it sacked in September after a court ruled in their favour.
A statement by the airline’s management said the company has complied with all the court orders and was giving the employees reinstatement letters.
“As a responsible corporate citizen, with full respect for the rule of law, Kenya Airways has complied with all the court orders,” read the statement signed by managing director Titus Naikuni.
“Employees will be issued with reinstatement letters and sent on leave awaiting redeployment,” it said. (Read: KQ staff win back their jobs)
However, employees who returned to work as directed by the industrial court in Nairobi on Monday refused to sign the letters because of the redeployment clause. (Read: Retrenched workers reject KQ's offer)
The letters specified that the employees “will be sent on paid leave awaiting redeployment”, a clause Aviation and Allied Workers Union (AAWU) chairperson Perpetua Mponjiwa advised them to reject.
“The court made it clear that we must be reinstated in the positions we held without loss of seniority, continuity, benefits or privileges. That should be the case, not redeployment,” Ms Mponjiwa said.
Redeployment would allow Kenya Airways to demote some of them, she said. “These are the same games KQ has been playing with us and we have given them until close of business today (yesterday) to reinstate the employees in their previous roles or we go back to court.”
She also demanded that KQ pays their salaries backdated to September before Friday, as directed.
Management and union officials were on Tuesday still holding talks on how to end the stalemate.
A source at Kenya Airways said the employees could not just be reinstated because of logistical and administrative issues.
He said the employees would have to be re-trained as Kenya Civil Aviation Authority rules say an employee who has been away for more than two weeks requires refresher courses.
“We will also have to issue them with new airport passes and deal with other logistics that will take time,” the source who requested anonymity said.
Kenya Airways said their lawyers were still studying the court ruling and its implication before they advise on the next step.
