A Kenya Airways plane. The national carrier staff row will be settled out of court. File | Nation Media Group According to Justice Hellen Wasilwa, the objective of the conciliation is also to prevent massive job losses.
An employment dispute between aviation workers and Kenya Airways on reduction of staff, salary cuts and unpaid leave due to Covid-19 pandemic will be resolved through conciliation.
In a ruling made by the Labour Court, the move is aimed to keep the struggling national carrier, which posted a Sh14 billion loss in the first half of 2020, afloat and save it from incurring further huge financial losses. According to Justice Hellen Wasilwa, the objective of the conciliation is also to prevent massive job losses.
The ruling is among the emerging cautionary decisions being made by the Labour court when determining employment disputes during the pandemic to balance workers’ rights against the harsh economic situation facing their employers.
Justice Wasilwa, while ruling on a petition filed by the Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) challenging the intention of the loss-making airline to lay off employees, said it is common knowledge that the impact of Covid-19 on the aviation industry has been grave. “This is a matter, which is obvious,” the judge said.
Breached the law
“However, that does not mean there will be derogation from the well-known principle of negotiations and consultations between union and management before implementing certain decisions, which can have far-reaching consequences on the employer and the employees,” she said.
The judge found the national carrier had breached the law and the Constitution by failing to consult the union before implementing decisions on reduction of staff, cutting salaries by 30 per cent and directing some employees to proceed for unpaid leaves.
“The decisions made by KQ indeed impacted on remuneration of the union members and their livelihood and it should, therefore, be handled with caution,” Ms Wasilwa said.
However, she declined to grant a request by the union to declare that the decisions of the airline were discriminatory, illegal and amounted to unfair labour practice. She noted that there had been some discussions between the two parties, but the negotiations had not been concluded.
“Given the nature of this petition and the need to balance between industry in these difficult times due to the negative impact on the airline by Covid-19 and the need to keep KQ afloat in the circumstances […]