"Atwoli calls nationwide tea workers' strike over three CBAs"

COTU boss Francis Atwoli has declared a nationwide strike for workers in multinational tea companies so their CBAs are addressed in totality.The union wants the employers to meet them to discuss and renew the 2014/15, 2015/16 and 2016/17 CBAs. Atwoli has accused tea companies of failing to implement pay agreements since 2014. "We have waited for pay hikes for the past four years but it appears the employers have become adamant. This has forced us to tell our members to down tools to press for the demands," he said...

Atwoli, who is also Kenya Plantations and Agricultural Workers Union secretary general, hit at the employers for moving to court "every other time" to frustrate implementation of the CBA and "defeat justice...We are saying enough is enough. We have waited long enough and therefore, the strike is the right tool to use so employers implement the CBA," he told more than 1,000 KPAWU workers. "I am asking my members to stay put and boycott duty. It doesn't matter how long the strike will take...all we want is implementation of the CBAs for better salaries." The tea picking boycott started at some tea firms in the South Rift region on Wednesday and continued today.