By Moses Nthurima
The increasingly overzealous state scrutiny, now more than any other time before has been focused on the trade union movement with particular attention to teacher unions.
As the country grids into one party state courtesy of the handshake, the pro-democratic forces have reasons to worry bearing in mind that the space for the alternative voices has been slinking in the recent past.
The ruthless crackdown on the civil societies by state last year was not only a choreographed maneuver to create fear, but also a deliberate attempt to weaken the Kenyans’ resolve to freely contribute towards the political governance of their country.
This inexplicable move by the powers that be was but a part of a wider scheme to undermine the Bill of rights and fundamental freedoms as provided for under the Kenyan constitution.
As Uhuruto camaraderie dominate the political scene, there is an elaborate conspiracy that teacher unions should be rendered toothless for obvious reasons; suppression.
In our country where the rule of law is mostly understood to begin and end with politics, regard must be put into thorough scrutiny with respect to the Government’s relentless efforts to mutilate the Kenyan constitution.
The current move to amend the labor laws, with singular focus on suppression of the right of the workers to go on strike, is a brutal attempt to alienate the only constitutional means through which workers could express their displeasure upon unco-operative employers.
The introduction of miscellaneous Amendment Bill No .12 of 2018, that inter alia, seeks to amend sections of Labor Relations Act, in complete disregard to the correct procedures of amendments amounts to parliamentary dictatorship.
In good faith, such critical statutory amendment that touches on the very core of human rights, would have, ordinarily, been brought through a substantive parliamentary motion to make it available for public participation.
The amendments opine that, for any union to call out its members for a strike action, a threshold of three quarters of fully paid up members should have signed in support. Besides, the union officials calling out for a strike should have made prerequisite arrangement to ensure safety of lives and properties during the strike.
This Bill proposes penal consequences against union leaders in the event of failure to comply with the said requirements.
The Bill further proposes the limitation of right to go on strike by expanding the scope of the worker under “essential services “as defined under the provisions of section 81, of the Labour Relations Act.
The amendment presupposes a situation where the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Security has powers to declare any other sector in public employment an essential service during a prolonged strike, and further limit the number of workers who could go on strike without consulting unions.
The said ministerial powers are intended to amend Article 41[2] of the Constitution albeit through the back door, which powers are vested with people of Kenya through referendum.
The most abhorrent proposal in this regard, is the clause that compels unions to indicate the type of services that must continue during the strike action, which shall be defined by the job function and not by individual employees.
In furtherance of this mischief, is the requirement that a union enter into an agreement with the employer over the minimum number of employees to continue working during the strike action, either expressed as a number or a percentage of current workforce
The Bill stipulates that the agreement should contain weaver of rights that empowers an employer to engage in replacement of worker during strike action, supposedly to provide services in excess of the minimum services.
The totality of the aforementioned amendments is not only an insult to democracy but a blind attempt to derail strike efforts from the takeoff.
Any amendments that purport to aggress on the human rights chapter should have regard to the import of Article 24 of the Kenyan Constitution on the limitation of rights and fundamental freedoms- that rights shall be limited only, to the extent that the limitation is reasonable and justifiable in an open democratic society based on human dignity, equality and freedoms.
Our take in this respect is that the introduction of the Bill by the Government functionaries was driven by malice and blind thirst for power as opposed to reasonable quest for justice.
The writer is the Deputy Secretary General KUPPET
