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The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Kenya County Government Workers Union (KCGWU) met on Friday and endorsed the strike notice issued last week, September 4.
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The union's top organ vowed to rally all its members from the 47 counties to down their tools and paralyse operations in the devolved units.
Operations in counties are headed for a complete shutdown as the top decision-making organ of the County Workers union ratified a countrywide strike beginning September 24.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Kenya County Government Workers Union (KCGWU) met on Friday and endorsed the strike notice issued last week, September 4.
The union's top organ vowed to rally all its members from the 47 counties to down their tools and paralyse operations in the devolved units.
The union represents all county employees, some handling critical sectors.
KCGWU members include firemen, sewer men, garbage collectors, revenue clerks, parking attendants, Early Childhood Development Education teachers, Tvet instructors, enforcement officers, mortuary and ambulance attendants.
“We the National Eexcutive Committee of the Kenya County Government Workers Union being the governing body of the union, hereby unanimously resolve that strike notice issued on September 4 2024 calling on all county workers to down tools is hereby ratified,” the union’s Secretary General Roba Duba said.
Roba said the decision was arrived at after the government showed no commitment is solving their pay grievances.
The workers claim they have been unfairly discriminated against in the current salary adjustment that has only favoured their counterparts in the national government.
The state has in the last one month given a pay rise to police officers, teachers as well as civil servants to avert strikes that threatened to stall government services.
Duba protested the move by the government to only award pay increases to public servants in the national government as discriminatory.
According to Roba, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission issued a circular on the pay increases for all cadres of public servants but which was later withdrawn following the anti-government protests, only to be reintroduced for national government employees.
The union further claimed their members had initially been selectively left out from the phase one salary adjustments, where all public servants were to get an increment of between seven to 10 per cent.
The union is also protesting delayed salary payments that has pushed majority of their members to the edge.
Also in their demand list is payment of statutory deductions which counties have failed to remit.
According to Duba, the pension debt currently stands at Sh60 billion owed to Local Provident Fund (Lapfund) as well as County Pension Fund (CPF)/ Laptrust.
The non-remittance of the pension, Duba noted has pushed their members to abjuct poverty upon retirement.
“Consequently, if these demands are not met all County Government employees who include but not limited to revenue clerks, ECDE teachers, firemen, enforcement officers, garbage collectors, environmental staff, parking attendants, Tvet instructors, mortuary attendants, ambulance attendance shall down their tools by September 24, 2024, beginning midnight,” Duba said.
“Due notice is hereby given in accordance with section 76 of the Labour relations Act 2007.”
The government has been facing strike threats from various sectors that could hurt the already bleeding economy following months of anti-government protests.
Health workers, lecturers and university students have also issued strike notices.
While health workers and lecturers are demanding better pay, the students are pushing for the review of the new funding model which they claim is anti-poor.
There have been concerns that waves of strikes would further affect the country’s efforts to recover from past industrial actions and political protests.