Ukwala faces higher staff costs as workers join union
A cashier at an Ukwala branch in Nairobi. Ukwala Supermarkets is facing higher staff costs after a court directive allowed its employees to join a trade union. FILE PHOTO | SALATON NJAU |
What you need to know:
Unionised employees have to be paid minimum wages and enjoy other benefits such as day offs, leave days, overtime pay, lunch break, house allowance and paid sick leave.
The mid-tier retailer with 11 branches has been locked in a three-year court battle with the Kucfaw which has been seeking to enlist Ukwala staff as members and engage the supermarket in bargaining for better terms for the employees.
Ukwala Supermarkets is facing higher staff costs after a court directive allowed its employees to join a trade union.
The supermarket chain on Wednesday signed a deed to allow its 777 workers to join the Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (Kucfaw), which gives Ukwala employees an avenue to negotiate for better pay.
Unionised employees have to be paid minimum wages and enjoy other benefits such as day offs, leave days, overtime pay, lunch break, house allowance and paid sick leave.
“The parties have agreed on a raft of issues, key among them being that this union shall engage your employer in all negotiable issues including wages and salary payment and medical benefits among others,” said Boniface Kavuvi, Kucfaw’s secretary general in a memo to Ukwala staff.
“The task ahead of us to realise our first collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is enormous but not insurmountable,” said Mr Kavuvi.
The mid-tier retailer with 11 branches has been locked in a three-year court battle with the Kucfaw which has been seeking to enlist Ukwala staff as members and engage the supermarket in bargaining for better terms for the employees.
The Industrial Court in April last year ruled in favour of Kucfaw and ordered Ukwala to allow its workers to join the labour union.
In a related ruling, Judge Stephen Radido in October last year ordered Eldomatt to recognise Kucfaw and immediately begin making monthly union payments to the workers’ organisation.
Eldomatt has two branches in Eldoret with about 300 staff.
The court decisions come after Nakumatt signed a 12 per cent salary increase for its 4,500 unionisable staff who were also offered higher allowances and additional leave days.
Tuskys Supermarkets’ 7,000 employees went on strike in December 2013 demanding a 10 per cent pay rise and allowances, months after they joined the trade union and negotiated a fresh pay deal.
Uchumi was in trouble in October 2013 when about 3,500 workers threated to down their tools if the management failed to honour a CBA that awarded them a 10 per cent salary raise.
The standoff was resolved when the Nairobi bourse-listed retailer agreed to implement the deal.
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