Uchumi chief executive Julius Kipng’etich. FILE PHOTO | NMG
Uchumi Supermarkets has signed a return-to-work formula with its
workers following a strike over non-payment of the May and June
salaries, which paralysed the retail chain’s operations.
The
deal signed yesterday between the supermarket and the Kenya Union of
Commercial, Food and Allied Workers (Kucfaw) requires Uchumi, which has
about 1,300 employees, to pay May salaries from today and June wages
starting July 14.
The
return-to-work formula signed by three Uchumi managers including chief
executive Julius Kipng’etich and union officials requires all staff to
resume duty with immediate effect.
It also states that
no worker will be victimised for missing work or striking. Uchumi
workers in various towns including Nairobi, Mombasa, Meru, Karatina,
Eldoret and Kisumu took to the streets yesterday demanding payment of
their salaries.
“Uchumi has assured us that they will
implement the return-to-work formula as agreed and we trust that they
will do as required. We have called off the strike and our members will
now go back to work as they await the implementation of the signed
deal,” said Kucfaw secretary-general Bonface Kavuvi.
The
deal comes about two weeks after Kucfaw wrote to the Labour secretary
Phyllis Kandie asking for her assistance in resolving the salary delay.
Kucfaw,
which has 1,200 Uchumi employees as its members, claimed in its letter
that the retailer had defaulted on remission of statutory deductions as
well as payment of overtime wages.
Uchumi, however,
says its payments to the National Hospital Insurance Fund are up to date
but was two months late on contributions to the National Social
Security Fund.
The Labour ministry in response to
Kucfaw appointed a conciliator, Hellen Apiyo, to liaise with the union
and Uchumi management for a lasting solution to the issue.
Uchumi
has since attributed the delay in payment of salaries to constrained
cash flows that have rendered it unable to meet some of its obligations.
Kenya’s
largest retailer, Nakumatt, is facing similar financial troubles and
delayed May salaries for a majority of its 1,555 employees even as it
sent more than 100 on compulsory leave, citing low business volumes.
The
troubled retailer has informed its workers that they will henceforth
get paid weekly wages instead of earning monthly salaries.
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