Geothermal firm employees eye higher pay

Geothermal Development Company engineers monitor activities at Menengai site in Nakuru on November 10, 2014. Workers at the firm are on course to receiving higher pay. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The CBA was first signed in September last year but it was not registered in court as required. The new agreement is supposed to cover them from January 2017 to December 2020.
  • As from January next year, GDC workers will also be expecting to get an eight percent increment on their basic salaries, house and transport allowances.

Over 600 workers at a geothermal firm are set to get new terms of service after the Labour Court accepted their collective bargaining agreement.

Justice Maureen Onyango issued the directive on Monday after the Geothermal Development Company (GDC) took their CBA with the Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union (Ketawu) to court.

“This is to inform you that the court, having duly considered the CBA entered into by you dated July 23, 2018, has accepted its registration with the relevant provisions of the Labour Relations Act,” Justice Onyango said.

She added: “The collective agreement has been entered in the Register of CBAs maintained by the court under the following entry: RCA. No. 177 of 2018.”

The court’s directive has been copied to the GDC’s general manager, the Ministry of Labour, the union and the Federation of Kenya Employers.

STRIKE NOTICE

The CBA was first signed in September last year but it was not registered in court as required. The new agreement is supposed to cover them from January 2017 to December 2020.

According to Ketawu’s branch secretary Michael Opiyo, the move is a reprieve for the unionisable workers, as they anticipate good pay perks, allowances and clear terms of service.

In July, GDC staff issued a strike notice to their employer while protesting against poor working conditions, wrongful dismissal, selective promotions, harassment, lack of protective gear and low pay.

Through the union, the state firm has been battling with allegations of running a skewed employment policy and subjecting workers to poor social amenities - especially at its Menengai and Nakuru sites and drilling sections.

But the CBA stipulates the pay structure, allowances, medical scheme as well as the procedure of settling labour disputes.

SALARY

It also includes five percent annual increment in basic salary, house and transport allowances backdated to January this year. They are also set to get increased daily subsistence allowances.

As from January next year, GDC workers will also be expecting to get an eight percent increment on their basic salaries, house and transport allowances.

GDC was formed in 2008 to drill Kenya’s geothermal fields and sell steam heads to State owned power producer KenGen and other private power producers for development

The company has been active in Olkaria in Naivasha, Suswa, Menengai in Nakuru and Baringo.