Unilever Tea says not all 11,000 unionised staff will be retired early

What you need to know:

  • Unilever Plc says that its planned reorganisation does not target mass layoffs and would remain a voluntary early retirement exercise (VER).
  • The firm said it has no target number of employees earmarked for the layoff.
  • Unilever Tea owns 20 tea estates and eight factories manufacturing an average of 32 million kilogrammes of tea every year.

British consumer goods giant Unilever Plc says only the staff nearing retirement are targeted for voluntary staff reduction at its Kericho-based tea plantations, easing fears that 11,000 workers are facing the sack.

A worker’s union on Wednesday this week claimed that the tea producer had embarked on a massive layoffs targeting 11,000 unionisable employees out of 16,000 workers.

But Unilever Plc in a Friday statement said its planned reorganisation would remain a voluntary early retirement exercise (VER).

“Unilever Tea Kenya (UTK) would like to clarify that reports suggesting a Voluntary Early Retirement (VER) scheme is part of plans to lay off 11,000 out of the 16,000 workers employed on the plantation are entirely incorrect,” said Unilever East Africa corporate affairs and sustainable business director Joseph Sunday.

No target number

The firm said it has no target number of employees earmarked for the layoff.

“We can confirm that some employees were informed of their eligibility to take part in a VER but any reports of mass lay-offs are completely inaccurate,” said Mr Sunday.

“This VER is primarily aimed at employees close to retirement, who are offered the choice to apply for early retirement with an attractive benefits package.”

 The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union assistant secretary-general Meshack Khisa said earlier on Wednesday, “Unilever’s decision to send workers home amounts to involvement in unfair labour practices and corporate greed.”

“(The union) strongly condemns Unilever Tea Kenya for engaging in corporate greed and jeopardising over 11,000 unionised workers’ jobs through a separation exercise that only targets unionised employees,” he said in a statement.

The Employment and Labour Relations Court has since issued an injunction stopping the exercise until the union’s petition is heard and determined beginning August 14.

Unilever Tea owns 20 tea estates and eight factories manufacturing an average of 32 million kilogrammes of tea every year.

Strikes and legal battles

Several multinational tea companies in the country have sacked thousands of workers leading to protracted strikes and legal battles.

Most tea companies pay tea pickers Sh15.5 per kilogramme of green leaf on average while workers operating tea machines are paid Sh4 per kilogramme. 

Kenya is the biggest exporter of black tea in the world, and tea is also the leading source of foreign exchange.

Total export earnings rose to 129 billion shillings in 2017 - the highest in five years - from 120 billion shillings a year earlier, while total output was down 7 percent to 439 million kg.