COTU rejects Labour Ministry's invite, demands talks on job creation

COTU Secretary General Dr. Francis Atwoli addressing workers during the 60th Labour Day Celebrations at Uhuru Gardens, Nairobi on May 1, 2025[Boniface Okendo, Standard]

The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has rejected an invitation by the Ministry of Labour to discuss redundancies in public sugar factories, instead calling for urgent consultations on employment creation.

In a letter to Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua, COTU Secretary-General Francis Atwoli said the ministry was established to create jobs and protect existing ones, not to preside over layoffs.

"The ministry of labour was created to foster an enabling environment for workers, employers and the government through sound, enormous and effective industrial machinery," said Atwoli.

The workers' union criticised a clause in the National Labour Board (NLB) framework that allows employers to declare workers redundant, describing it as obsolete and inconsistent with the realities of the labor market.

COTU claims the clause was inserted into the Finance Bill of 1994 at the behest of the World Bank and IMF.

"COTU is not prepared, now or in the future, to participate in a meeting chaired by the Ministry of Labour to discuss how to declare workers redundant; we shall only meet to discuss how to create more employment opportunities," said Atwoli.

He added it was "deeply concerning" that the ministry would focus on redundancy at a time of widespread unemployment.

On Wednesday, the ministry had written to COTU seeking nominations for officers to sit on a tripartite committee tasked with addressing redundancies in sugar factories. The ministry said the committee would also provide technical guidance on dispute prevention, lawful termination, staff transition, and compliance with labor laws.

The move follows a September 15 letter from the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Agriculture calling for the convening of the tripartite committee.