Public Sector Trade Unions to go on strike after SRC directive

By Mourice Seretta

A section of PublicSector Trade Unions under the umbrella of the giant Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) on Friday issued a two week ultimatum for the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to rescind its decision that all Civil Servants will not get a salary increment for the next two years, failure to which the Unions will call their members to a strike.

Adressing the media from COTU offices in Nairobi, the Unions led by COTU 1^st Assistant Secretary General Ernest Nadome say that SRC made the decision unilaterally without involving the stakeholders and that the decision must be revoked forthwith.

‘The statement by SRC is uncalled for. We will not allow them to bring chaos to the country in the midst of a pandemic. We are aware that the economy is not doing well but the move is going to affect thousands of our deserving members and will further injure the economy.’ Nadome said.

Nadome warned that it will not be business as usual if SRC fails to heed to the Unions calls saying that if the unions call for the strike after the lapse of the notice, business will be paralyzed across every sector across the nation.

‘This will be a mother of all strikes. It will be something the country has never witnessed before,’ Nadome warned.

Nadome also said that SRC was acting unconstitutionally and it needs to be tamed before it failed the government, being a government entity.

On his part, the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) Secretary General Dr Charles Mukhwaya offered that SRC was acting in a dictatorial manner by making such detrimental decisions.

‘It is unfortunate that the commission is acting in a way suggesting that it is still living in the stone age period. It must involve us as stakeholders when making such decisions. The commission must stop acting in a dictatorial manner,’ Dr Mukhwaya said.