More than 30,000 employees in four sugar industries have given their employers a strike notice, claiming that they can no longer work while their pay, now standing at 10.8 billion Kenyan shillings, remains unpaid.
Through the Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation and Allied Workers (KUSPAW), they are complaining that despite promises from the government to pay some of the debts as earlier promised to the people, the situation remains unsatisfied.
In his address to the people on Friday while in Kisumu, KUSPAW General Secretary Francis Wangara stated that previously, the government pledged to release at least Ksh4 billion before the end of last year. This included Ksh1.9 billion that was to cater to outstanding salaries. This was to have been paid before the end of November.
“Those promises have been just words,” Wangara said. “Sugar workers have patiently awaited their fulfillment, but the situation has been unbearable.”
This is because the government is still obligated under the law to settle the debt despite the fact that the government has now leased the sugar farms to private investors.
“But the leasing of factories will not alleviate the sufferings of the workers,” Wangara observed. “These are old arrears which need to be paid by the government.”
He accused the ministry of agriculture and top officials in the ministry of having repeatedly promised but failed to deliver, causing sugar workers to struggle to pay rent, school fees, and medical expenses.
As such, the union has issued a strike notice which will take effect on the following Thursday and directed all the sugar workers in the four firms to down their tools until the full amount is paid and reflected in their accounts.
If the strike continues to persist, it may pose yet another threat to the fragile sugar industry. For many workers, it has come to a point beyond striking; it has come to survival.
“We have families to feed,” he said. “All we are asking for is what we have already worked for.”
