Air Zimbabwe pilots fired for missing pay strike
19 / 09 / 2010
AIR Zimbabwe has fired all of its pilots after they went on strike over unpaid allowances.
The 40 pilots, who are paid US$2,500 a month, claimed they and other workers of the airline have only been paid half of their salaries since February 2009. They now say they are all owed $9 million.
When they went on strike the airline gave them a 24-hour deadline to return to work, which, when it passed, led to the pilots being fired. The airline is now losing $500,000 a day while its aircraft are grounded.
Air Zimbabwe’s chairman, Jonathan Kadzura, said the airline was acting within national employment laws and that the airline was planning to charter other carriers to operate its services.
Air Zimbabwe’s chief executive officer, Peter Chikumba, declined to provide further information. “At the moment, there are no new developments worthwhile to discuss with newspapers,” he said.
Other workers of the airline are now threatening to strike also unless Air Zimbabwe gives them their missing pay and the pilots reinstated.
