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Civil Aviation staff at Lilongwe International Airport (Lia) have refused to collect their August salaries in protest against rental deductions by their employer, Ministry of Transport and Public Works on behalf of their landlord, Airport Development Limited (ADL).
The employees spent much of the morning on Thursday in a meeting and agreed that they go on strike if the ministry insists on the deduction.
“We want our salaries in full. The houses we stay in are not worth the amount of money that is being deducted from our salary,” said one of the employees after their meeting.
“If we don’t get full salaries today, we’ll have no option but to go on strike,” he added.
Airport commandant Augustine Khundi confirmed that “some have refused to collect their salaries because they want it in full.”
He said he communicated this to management and was awaiting response on the way forward.
Khundi could not comment on what would happen to the airliners if the employees, some of whom man the airport control tower, went ahead with the strike.
The employees claim that ADL is charging them K1,500 for a two-bedroom house while their colleagues from Department of Immigration and Malawi Police Service pay half the amount.
Deputy director of Civil Aviation Matemba said he was aware of the issue but refused to comment saying “I am not competent enough to give information”.
Both Secretary for Transport and his deputy were reported to be out to a funeral in Nkhotakota on Thursday.
Estate officer at ADL Rex Nkhata said the Ministry of Transport and Public Works decided to start collecting rental on behalf of the company after realising that the employees were unable to pay it when given housing allowance.
“They haven’t been paying us for a long time and at one of our meetings, we agreed that the rental should be deducted at source,” Nkhata said, adding that the first deduction was supposed to be done in August.
About three years ago, civil aviation staff went on strike, forcing senior officers from the ministry to work at the airport to avoid cancellation of flights.
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