03/11: Nurses in public hospitals in Kenya are on strike negotiating for better terms to cope with rising Cost of Living. The situation has deteriorated over the past four years since the government devolved health services from national to county level.
At the centre of the nurses dispute is a collective bargaining agreement that had been struck with county governments through the council of governors. The agreement addresses pay, working conditions and promotions. But it’s not been honoured by the governors because they say it’s too costly and hasn’t been cleared by the salaries and remunerations commission.
The rising Cost of Living and inflation for all workers countrywide has also fuelled the unrest. If this is not controlled, then workers across all sectors will continue to clamour for pay increases to meet the rising Cost of Living.
Kenyan nurses work under difficult conditions. Understaffing is acute, particularly in remote dispensaries and health centres where they perform duties normally done by clinicians or pharmaceutical technologists. The average salaries are often low, despite the price of living increasing every year.
Collective bargaining agreements
In Kenya, the Constitution and the Labour Relations Act provide for Freedom of Association. Every worker has a right to form, join or participate in the activities and programs of a trade union (and leave a trade union). Union members are free to elect their representatives and formulate their work program. They may draw up their own statutes and administrative regulations, as long as these are not contrary to laws in effect and public order.
In accordance with article 41 of the Constitution, every trade union, employers’ organisation and employer has the right to engage in collective bargaining. According to the Labour Relations Act, collective agreement is a written agreement concerning any terms and conditions of employment made between a trade union and an employer, group of employers or organisation of employers.
The right to strike is recognized by the Kenya Constitution and is a fundamental worker right. Compulsory recourse to arbitration, long and complex conciliation and mediation procedures prior to strike actions generally restrict the right to strike. Strike is prohibited to the workers engaged in essential services.
Strike means the cessation of work by employees acting in combination, or a concerted refusal or a refusal under a common understanding of employees to continue to work for the purpose of compelling their employer or an employers’ organisation of which their employer is a member to accede to any demand in respect of a trade dispute.