Contractors dismiss plans to bar them from Mombasa port

Andrew Mwangura gave a seven-day ultimatum to 13 ship contractors and agents to sign a Recognition Agreement. FILE 

By MWAKERA MWAJEFA

Harbour contractors have dismissed an order barring them from the Mombasa port.

Unregistered Harbour Contractors’ Employees Union said the Seafarers Union of Kenya (SUK) has no authority or jurisdiction to bar anybody from the Mombasa port.

SUK general-secretary Andrew Mwangura gave a seven-day ultimatum to 13 ship contractors and agents to sign a Recognition Agreement, failure to which they would be barred from entering the port.

In a joint statement, SUK and Dock Workers Union (DWU) ordered the operators to sign a labour pact with the seafarers union or risk being locked out from operating at the facility.

They warned that within a month’s time no ship contractor or agents’ employees who are not members of any employers’ association or seafarers’ union would access the port.

“The various labour suppliers should consider forming a dock labour board to supply workers to ships and warehouses within the county,” said the two unions’ general secretaries, Mr Mwangura and Simon Sang.

The Unregistered Harbour Contractors’ Employees Union’s CEO John Otieno said the order has no bearing on members nor does it compel them to enter into any agreement with the two unions.

He said the mandate rests on Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) that has the responsibility to ‘maintain, operate, improve and regulate all schedule seaports’ along the Kenya’s coastline including Mombasa port.

Mr Otieno said the Geneva Convention allows employers’ and workers’ organisations to establish or join unions of their own choice without coercion and authorisation from any quarters.

“What Mr Mwangura and Mr Sang are saying goes against our Bill of Rights which guarantees freedoms of association and movement,” he said.

He said both casual and permanent workers have the right to establish and join federations and confederations which may in turn affiliate with international organisations of workers and employers.