Nothing to celebrate as Kenyans mark Labour Day

Thousands of Kenyans will mark this year's Labour Day having lost jobs as companies opt to cut back on their workforce, overwhelmed by the impact of Covid-19 pandemic.

A report from the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection indicates the virus has already rendered at least 133,657 Kenyans jobless.

Companies began sending employees home in March — days after the first coronavirus case was reported in Kenya, while most of them have joined this month.

The boldest of moves by many companies so far has been to send workers on unpaid leave and slashing salaries.

Firms in the flowers, tea, hotels, tourism, aviation and transport sectors were the first to take action.

So far, workers in the flower farms have been the hardest hit, where about 80,000 have either been sacked or are currently on unpaid leave.

UNPAID LEAVE

This is after the sector lost its market in Europe, when orders were cancelled.

"Only 50 per cent of our nationwide workforce is currently working with the percentage expected to plummet to 25 per cent in the coming two or three weeks. If things do not improve, we project employee head count to drop to 20,000," Kenya Flower Council Executive Officer Clement Tulezi said last month, when over 30,000 casuals at flower farms were fired.

It was the first bold move by the 150,000 workforce sector in reacting to impacts caused by the pandemic, where also 40,000 permanent staff were sent home.

In the second layoff last week, employees who had been placed on half salaries in April were sent home without pay, with more than 1,000 workers — 750 of them from Oserian Ltd in Naivasha — affected.

In the tea sector, multinational companies in Nandi, Kericho and Bomet have also dismissed casual workers and reduced working shifts for permanent employees.

"The tea companies should not take advantage of the coronavirus to replace workers with tea plucking machines, which will result in the loss of jobs," said Mr Eliakim Ochieng, the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union vice-chairman.

REDUNDANCIES

In the aviation sector, about 7,000 employees are either on unpaid leave or working on reduced salary, after lockdowns were effected in many countries, halting operations of passenger aircraft.

"More than 3,500 employees of Kenya Airways (KQ), at least 300 domestic flight workers at Jambo Jet, Fly540 and other local airlines, 400 workers at Aerotech, 1,000 workers at Tradewinds and more than 200 workers at duty-free shops are at home," said Kenya Aviation Workers Union Secretary-General Moss Ndiema.

The Kenya Association of Hotel Keepers and Caterers also estimates that more than 50 big hotels have closed down, sending at least 5,000 workers home, many of them in Nairobi and Mombasa.

The Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) has warned that the situation is set to get worse in the coming weeks.

"Our advice to companies has been to avoid redundancies, so most have sent staff on leave," said FKE Executive Director Jacqueline Mugo.

Tracking the coronavirus