Some of the Ashut Engineers Ltd workers on Tuesday, at the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU-K) headquarter in Nairobi. [James Wanzala, Standard]

Over 600 unionisable employees of a manufacturing company are staring at a bleak future.

The company, based in Industrial Area, has issued a one-month redundancy notice, effective March 25.

Most of the targeted workers are from the plastic division, which the company says is struggling to stay afloat.

“The redundancy process has been necessitated by the fact that the board of directors of Ashut Engineers Ltd made a decision to separate the business of furniture and fabrication division (under engineering division) from the plastic division to a separate legal entity known as Ashut Plastics Limited as the latter is no longer a viable business,” said Mr Amit Shah, a director, in a letter to the Kenya Engineering Workers Union (Kewu).

He said the division has over the last few years faced “inability to generate sufficient business profits despite massive capital injection”.

The firm, he said, has also been affected by the government’s ban on the manufacture of disposable plastic products.

On February 15, the Employment and Labour Relations Court allowed the company to proceed with the redundancy process.

On Tuesday, some of workers who are already on suspension over what the company termed as sabotage presented their grievances to the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).

They are demanding details of the exit terms.

Some of the proposed benefits are severance pay for each completed year of service, salaries up to March 25, overtime, leave pay.

“We don’t agree that the company’s plastic business is not viable since Central Planning and Monitoring Unit from Labour Ministry assessed the business and gave it a clean bill of health,” said one of the workers.

They blamed their union officials for doing little. A CBA case has been in court since 2018.

‘’Although the court has given a verdict, I still don’t support the redundancy though I am sure the employers will honour their promise,” said Kewu Secretary General Wycliffe Nyamwata.