Employees Stage Demos, Issue Ultimatum After 14-Month Salary Delay of Sh100M
On Friday, March 29th, tea growers from Nyamira, Bomet, Kisii, and Kericho counties rallied in protest against the postponement of their wages.
During their protest, the workers insisted on the prompt payment of their outstanding dues, asserting that they had been waiting for over 14 months.
As per the farmers, the tea factory administration is said to owe them a sum of around Ksh100 million in payments. They also mentioned that their complaints had been disregarded, compelling them to organize the demonstration.
The employees observed that despite the factory management’s promises on multiple occasions to pay their overdue salaries, there had been no significant action taken even after enduring 14 months without pay.
They additionally alleged that the management provided them with counterfeit checks, which they observed were declined by the commercial banks.
“Since last year February, the farmers have not been paid, we have been making empty promises. They supply and they promise to pay us but when the time for payment comes, there is nothing,” noted one of the protestors.
“When they refused to pay us, we attempted to negotiate with them for almost 8 months but in the end, they shut down the factory,” claimed another farmer.
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The farmers claimed that they had reached out to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) for assistance, but no action had been taken to help them recover their funds.
The farmers have given the factory owners a one-week ultimatum to ensure that all the funds are paid, declaring their determination to persist until they receive the payment.
The most recent updates follow weeks during which journalists affiliated with Mediamax Media gave their management a 24-hour ultimatum to resolve their outstanding salary payments. Failure to do so would result in them ceasing work and initiating a strike.
Erick Oduor, the Secretary General of the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), disclosed that certain journalists’ unpaid wages stretched back over a year.
“We stand in solidarity with correspondents of a respected daily newspaper owned by the former first family, who have withdrawn their labor over non-payment of their dues for over 12 months,” read the letter.
Employees Stage Demos, Issue Ultimatum After 14-Month Salary Delay of Sh100M
