Cablegate: Pay Deal Ends Two-Day Strike at Kenya Airways

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DE RUEHNR #1730 2300413
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 180413Z AUG 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0676
INFO RUEHXR/RWANDA COLLECTIVE
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RHMFIUU/FAA NATIONAL HQ WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
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DEPT PASS TO DOT FOR CORNELIA (CONNIE) HUNTER
TSA FOR JILLENE MACCREERY, CARLOS DE LA TORRE, AND MIRIAM MOSES
FAA FOR DONNA KRIMSKI
FAA REPRESENTATIVE DAKAR

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAIR ECON ASEC PTER KCRM KE
SUBJECT: PAY DEAL ENDS TWO-DAY STRIKE AT KENYA AIRWAYS

1. Demanding a 130% pay raise, employees at Kenya Airways (KQ) went
on strike August 14-15. The strike delayed or canceled roughly 90%
of KQ's flights, significantly disrupting both domestic and
international travel out of east Africa's busiest hub. Civil
aviation contacts expect KQ to have worked through the backlog of
delayed/canceled flights by August 19.

2. KQ's management and the Aviation and Allied Workers Union (AAWU)
struck a deal to end the strike late on August 15. The settlement
included a 20% pay increase over two years and additional allowances
(e.g., covering meals). It had reportedly been seven years since
the employees' last collective pay increase. A senior contact at
the Kenya Airports Authority credited Central Organization of Trade
Union Secretary General Francis Atwoli with helping to convince the
AAWU to accept KQ's offer.

RANNEBERGER

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