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Logistics firm Speedaf blocked from laying off staff
According to Speedaf’s replying affidavit, its total workforce comprised 114 employees at the time of the redundancy notice, 34 of whom CWU had recruited, representing 29.82 percent of the total workforce.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nairobi has stopped Speedaf Logistics Limited from declaring some of its employees, including courier officers, riders and drivers, redundant.
This is pending the hearing of a case filed by the Communication Workers Union of Kenya (CWU), which accuses the courier and delivery services company of using mass layoffs disguised as restructuring to thwart unionisation efforts.
In court documents seen by the Business Daily, CWU says Speedaf’s July 9 redundancy notice was a ploy to dismantle union representation, just months after 35 workers had joined the union.
In its verdict, the court noted that the union had demonstrated a prima facie case (sufficient evidence at first glance to support its claims) and that the affected employees risked total job loss if the process continued before the case was heard.
It ordered Speedaf to halt all redundancy actions under the July 9 notice.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this claim, the respondent is hereby restrained from declaring the claimant’s members and unionisable employees redundant pursuant to the notice dated July 9, 2025,” reads the October 31 ruling.
Further, the court directed CWU and Speedaf to file their responses within 21 days.
The union claims the company neither consulted it nor notified the County Labour Officer as required by law, and was using restructuring as an excuse to replace some of its staff with outsourced labour under a new franchise model.
“Respondent expressed its intention to close its business and transfer operations to several other entities described as enfranchises,” CWU submits.
According to Speedaf’s replying affidavit, its total workforce comprised 114 employees at the time of the redundancy notice, 34 of whom CWU had recruited, representing 29.82 percent of the total workforce.
The company, however, argues that this figure falls short of the statutory threshold required for recognition per the Labour Relations Act, which stipulates that a union needs a simple majority of the unionisable employees (at least 50 percent plus one) to be legally recognised.
Speedaf holds that it was restructuring to improve efficiency, reduce parcel losses and resource theft, and ensure sustainability. It maintains that it informed the union about the restructuring before sending out redundancy notices.
Additionally, the company accuses a CWU recruiter of coercing employees, including those in management positions, to join the union.
On its part, CWU says the company has since been recruiting new employees; the union claims it confirmed the engagement of nearly 20 new staff within a month of declaring redundancies.
It terms the purported redundancies as retaliatory, targeting its members for their trade union activities and aimed at undermining the ongoing recognition dispute.
