Kenya is a Hotbed of Industrial Strikes 2017

Kenya is a Hotbed of Industrial Strikes- By Jacqueline Njambi  

Every worker has a right to strike as outlined in our Constitution. Article 40 of the Constitution deals with labour relations and expressly gives an employee the right to go on strike, amongst other privileges, such as right to fair remuneration, reasonable working conditions and to join a trade union. Strikes and employer/employee relations are also  influenced by the Industrial Court Act, Act 20 of 2011 and Employment and Labour Relations Court under Article 162 (2)a of the Constitution. Further The Labour Relations Act, 2011 has outlined the procedure to be used by any worker who wishes to go on strike over an industrial dispute. The power to arbitrate all industrial disputes is given to the Ministry of Labour which is the main arbitrator as per the act.  In the recent year the Ministry of Labour has failed in its duties therefore workers have been forced to take on their last resort which is strike.

The Current Cabinet Secretary Philis Kandie has failed to act on time in all the strike notice issued to the employers through her ministry. She has failed to intervene in time especially in the days given in a strike notice.  In the last major strikes, workers have downed teir tools for over three months before the ministry can take action way after the Unions have given notice.

In some instances the courts have been abused in resolving the industrial disputes. These have resulted in further aggression among workers and prolonged strike days. A good example is Kenya Medical Practitioner and Dentist Union (KMPDU) strike. This the employers and the government instead of addressing the issues and concerns raised by workers they turn to court procedures to avoid addressing issues raised by workers.

The Ministry of Labour is understaffed and lacks experts to deal with labour disputes. The number of Labour officers has not increased for several years. These factors make it hard for the ministry to arbitrate the large number of industrial disputed addressed to them Thus, workers end up in strikes. The Ministry has no resources to cater for large number of disputes that require their intervention. Lack of funds has crippled the ministry since they are not able to execute on any matters.

Thus, in the past few years Kenya has become a hotbed of strikes; currently the Lecturers are on their third strike this year. To end this circus of industrial actions, the government should build the capacity of its labour ministry and labour officers as well as allocate enough funds to make sure that the ministry is able to address and arbitrate on matters concerning varied grievances raging from salaries delays, delayed promotions and non honoured CBAs before even workers give a strike notice. This will reduce the strikes and industrial disputes.

This will enable the government to carry out its projects without interference especially in the ministry of Education where the government has a wonderful Free Primary and Secondary Education to all Kenyans, Projects such as Digital Learning and Laptops will have a smooth running.  Free Maternity is another crucial project that has been affected by the strikes both by Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and KMPDU strikes is the Free Maternity Program. This was an excellent project that reduces martanal death and saw many infants receive correct immunization and reduced deaths of children below five years drastically. However with the current strike these and many more government projects will fail and the citizens will suffer greatly because of the strikes yet the workers are not the ones to blame.