AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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tions of employment were established in negotiations between unions and management.
The Government permits wage increases of up to 100 percent and renegotiation
of collective agreements; however, the law allows employers in ailing industries
to dismiss workers regardless of the provisions of their collective bargaining
agreements. Collective bargaining agreements must be registered with the Industrial
Court in order to ensure adherence to these guidelines. In 2001 the UKCS,
banned in 1980, was reregistered, which resolved a longstanding International
Labor Organization (ILO) complaint against the country. In theory the UKCS had
the right to negotiate the terms and conditions of civil service employment; however,
it has not done so. It could be difficult for the UKCS to renegotiate conditions of
employment because the interim national union officials were not civil servants.
The law permits workers to strike; however, this right was restricted. For example,
21 days must elapse following the submission of a letter to the Minister of
Labor before a strike can occur. Members of the military services, police, prison
guards, and the National Youth Service are prohibited from striking. Other civil
servants, like their private sector counterparts, can strike following the 21-day notice
period (28 days if it was an essential service, such as water, health, education,
or air traffic control). During this 21-day period, the Minister may mediate the dispute,
nominate an arbitrator, or refer the matter to the Industrial Court, a body
of five judges appointed by the President, for binding arbitration. Once a dispute
is referred to mediation, fact-finding, or arbitration, any subsequent strike is illegal.
Moreover, the act gives the Minister of Labor broad discretionary power to determine
the legality of any strike.
In past years, the Minister used this power to declare strikes by bank workers
and teachers illegal, although the required notice had been given. During the year,
the Ministry of Labor declared a number of strikes illegal, including a strike by air
traffic controllers, a strike by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), and
a nurses strike. In 1997 the KNUT called a nationwide strike, which the Government
quickly settled with pay increases of more than 200 percent spread over more
than 5 years, rather than risk antagonizing the influential teachers before the election.
The Government’s failure to implement the second of the promised pay hikes
resulted in a 1998 KNUT strike, which the Government declared illegal. The strike
ended after 15 days when the Government refused to renegotiate. In 2000 Dr. Gitu,
the Ministry of Labor’s Permanent Secretary, admitted that the Government should
not have agreed to pay the 1997 salary package for teachers; he was subsequently
fired. The Government and the KNUT remained in sporadic negotiation regarding
the implementation of the agreed-upon salaries; however, by September the contracted
pay hikes were not paid, prompting KNUT to strike again. In response to
the strike, the Government took steps to rescind the 1997 pay increase, withhold
teacher salaries, and cancel union members’ automatic contributions to KNUT. The
KNUT remained resolute in their demands, and COTU threatened a nationwide
general strike if the Government failed to pay the teachers. The High Court temporarily
blocked the Government’s reportedly illegal revocation of the 1997 salary
agreement pending a full hearing on the dispute. The strike ended on October 20,
when KNUT leaders and the Government agreed to postpone negotiations for the
benefit of students who were to sit for their national exams on October 22. A new
agreement on the implementation or revision of the 1997 salary package was not
expected until 2003. The agreement with KNUT committed the Government to pay
the remaining four phases of the salary increase and arrears of 150 to 200 percent
by July 1, 2003, but only after a subcommittee was appointed to work out the payment
schedule. The committee finalized its report in November, and the Minister
of Education officially published it in December. The agreement also committed the
Government not to persecute teachers for taking part in the strike and rescinded
the cancellation of the check-off system for payment of union dues.
In 2001, the last year for which statistics were available, there were 21 strikes
involving 4,640 workers and resulting in the loss of 12,828 cumulative days of work.
Most strikes were due to unpaid wage arrears and involved local government and
manufacturing workers. Some of these strikes involved violence on the part of the
strikers, usually in an attempt to keep other workers off the job. In some instances,
strikers also were dispersed forcibly by the Government. During the year, there
were a number of strikes in which the Government responded forcibly against both
associations and unions during threatened or actual strikes. The Government fired
and replaced striking air traffic controllers, ordered striking nurses back to work,
and skirmished with the striking KNUT.
With the exception of the Factories Act, all labor laws, including the right to organize
and bargain collectively, apply in the EPZs (see Section 6.e.). However, the EPZ
Authority and the Government grant many exemptions to applicable laws. For example,
the Government waived aspects of the law that prevent women from working
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