Malawi’s Kamuzu International Airport strike creates chaos
The workers strike at Malawi’s Kamuzu International Airport (KIA) on Tuesday entered a second day with more chaos expected as major airlines that use the facility were forced to reschedule their flights in the process delaying their passengers with almost one hour.
People who were at the airport to welcome or give farewell to their friends, visitors or family members also had to endure the one hour wait.
Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airways and South African Airways had flights scheduled to land during lunch hour at around 12.15, 12.20 and 12.25 respectively. Departures were expected at 13.15, 13.20 and 13.25 respectively.
However, all the flights landed one hours late with Kenya at 13.18, Ethiopia at 13.25 and South Africa at 13.32.
The strike started Monday after government failed to meet a seven day ultimatum to revise allowances for the Department of Civil Aviation staff for working during odd hours, over the weekends and public holidays.
Currently the workers are receiving K50 a day which translates to K1,500 per month and the workers are demanding that the money be hiked to at least K6,000.
Government on Monday gave an offer of K4,500 as minimum and K8,000 as maximum pay per month but the workers rejected and opted to continue with the strike.
The workers, who are crucial for the technical operations of the airport and management of traffic, work almost 24 hours a day including weekends and public holidays, have resorted to work only from 7.30am to 5.00pm and only during week days.
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