Talks on to quell storm in local tea industry

The government is spearheading talks to quell unrest in the tea industry, which multi-nationals say has cost them half a billion shillings worth of revenues in exports.

A joint committee of the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Agriculture met the disgruntled Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union and multinational lobby Kenya Tea Growers Association (KTGA) last week to steer the talks.

The parties meet again today to try and settle the row out of court.

“The strike has cost us dearly; we have 9.5 million kilos of unpicked green leaf which would have translated to 2.3 million kilos at auction, approximately $5.9 million in losses. What we are saying is that we have to talk because no one is gaining,” said KTGA chief executive Apollo Kiarii.

The workers union and KTGA have been locked in a lengthy court battle since 2014 before the staff got a favourable ruling last month.

Nairobi Industrial Court judge Lillian Njenga awarded them a 30 per cent pay rise under a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) which the tea estates challenged.

They say effecting the increment is akin to putting a noose around their operations’ necks.

Within days, the workers union mobilised their members to press for the implementation of the ruling in the June salaries, which estates refused, citing an injunction they filed against the award.

Mr Kiarii had been proposing that tea companies pay them an increment of 5 per cent as a temporary measure while negotiations continue due to high cost of production.

Mr Kiarii told the Nation that they are now open to a 7 to 8 per cent interim increase while the matter is being settled.