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STORY: Kenya's main aviation union said on Monday (August 12) that it would call a strike from early next week over plans to upgrade the country's main airport.

:: November 5, 2022

It's a walkout that could cause significant disruption to national carrier Kenya Airways and to operations at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, or JKIA.

India's Adani Airport Holdings would add a second runway at JKIA and upgrade the passenger terminal under the proposed deal.

But the Kenya Aviation Workers Union described it as an "unlawful intended sale" of the airport that would lead to job losses and non-Kenyan workers being brought in.

:: File

The union's secretary general, Moss Ndiema, said it would only reconsider its intention to engage in industrial action if the Adani deal was "abandoned in its entirety".

The government has said JKIA is not for sale and that no agreement has been reached on what it called a proposed public-private partnership to upgrade the airport.

In a statement last month it said there was an urgent need for improvements but that modernizing JKIA could cost $2 billion, which the government was "constrained to fund due to the current tight fiscal situation."

:: File

A nationwide youth-led protest movement that emerged in June over proposed tax hikes has also criticized what it says is a lack of transparency over the proposed Adani deal.

Last month police blocked protesters from accessing JKIA, which they had aimed to shut down.

The Kenya Airports Authority confirmed on Monday that it had received a strike notice, adding that it was hopeful that "a resolution can be reached through negotiation".