KENYA: Court orders KQ to reinstate retrenched workers

By Nation Reporter

The Industrial Court has ordered Kenya Airways to reinstate 453 employees it retrenched in October.

Justice James Rika on Monday ruled that Kenya Airways is faced with a cyclic economic downtown, not a downfall, adding that not every cyclic financial report of loss should be read as valid reason to justify retrenchment.

“The court would not have exercised its mind judiciously, if it concluded that simply because Kenya Airways brought evidence of record of financial loss to court, its decision to mass terminate the contracts of its employees is justifiable,” said Mr Justice Rika.

The judge also said that Kenya Airways ignored the law while conducting the retrenchment exercise.

The workers had sued Kenya Airways through Aviation & Allied Workers Union (AAWU).

Kenya Airways' lawyers however indicted that they will appeal the judgment.

The national carrier, which retrenched the workers as a cost-cutting measure, recorded a Sh4.7 billion loss for the first half of its financial year ending September 2012, down from Sh2 billion after tax profit recorded over the same period in 2011.

Chief Executive Titus Naikuni at the time explained that the Sh826 million one-off staff retrenchment would save the airline about Sh1 billion per year. (READ: Kenya Airways sends 453 home, completes Sh800m lay-off plan)

The workers body, Aviation and Allied Workers Union (AAWU), opposed the exercise, saying the airline was targeting staff who took part in a 2009 strike.

Source: Daily Nation (03/12/2012): http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Court-orders-KQ-to-reinstate-retrenched-workers/-/1006/1635412/-/9bevk1z/-/index.html