KENYAN aviation workers called off a strike that paralysed air traffic for two days at the main international airport in the capital Nairobi and others around the country.

Moss Ndiema, head of the Kenya Aviation Workers’ Union, said the strike that started on Sunday had been called off immediately. The go-slow strike ended after the union reached an agreement with Kenya Airports Authority and others.

The workers were demanding better working conditions and the implementation of a previously agreed deal.

“We are simply calling off our strike action and pleading with our members to begin the process of normalising operations, restoring services,” Moss Ndiema, the head of the workers’ union, told a press conference yesterday.

Transport Minister Davis Chirchir said they had agreed with the union on the way forward to address the grievances that had led to the strike.

“It’s unfortunate that we had to get here but we are out of it, and it’s unfortunate because the loss to the economy, which we don’t yet have the numbers, is huge.”

The strike followed a two-day dispute in February over collective bargaining and the use of volunteers at the airport.