By Agwanda Powerman.

A MAJOR showdown looms between the giant Mumias Sugar Company and a workers union over plans by the miller to lay off some 200 employees.

The Kenya Union of Sugar Plantation Workers has said it will call for a major strike if the company goes ahead and dismisses the employees without proper reasons.

Its secretary general Francis Wangara said at his Kisumu office that the company should give proper reasons why it intends to sack the 200 unonisable stuff.

Wangara censured the chief executive of the company Evans Kidero for making unilateral decisions without consulting the union.

He said Kidero joined the company when the stuff force stood at 4,900 which he said has steadily reduced to 900 workers only.

Wangara said that would mean that the company will only have a stuff of 700 workers only.

He said it was illogical for Kidero to claim that some workers do not meet the minimum requirements of new roles.

Wangara said that the staff in question were interviewed and recruited based on qualifications.

He said the best thing that the company should have done was to retrain the stuff for the alleged new roles.

A letter dates September 14 and copied to Wangara which “Hope Fm” saw says in part that “In line with the Company’s objectives our business operations and determined by the staff compliment and skills requirement to support business skill and competency requirements for the supporting structures have been determined and as a result of this approximately 200 employees will be declared redundant as they do not meet the minimum requirement of the new roles”.

The letter goes ahead to state that “In accordance with the employment Act section 40(1)a we hereby provide one month notice prior to the implementation of this exercise. The exercise will be conducted in accordance with the current provisions of the collective bargaining agreement”

But Wangara said the intended move by the company is extremely repugnant and illegal.

He said the move is aimed at reducing the company’s wage bill with the key motivator being high profit margins.

Wangara who was visibly annoyed said that the company should withdraw the notice given to the workers within seven days failure to which it will act as notice to revert to industrial action immediately.

He said the union was not involved in any stuff rationalization exercise affecting its members at all.

He said that the union can not be party to any stuff compliments since it was not involved at all.

Wangara said the lives of permanent employees who are unionisable can not be sacrificed on at alter of profits.

The unionist said that the company intends to contract in areas where stuff have been sacked a move he said was unacceptable.

Wangara said that the so called new roles that the workers do not meet are quite alien to the union where the workers ascribe to.

ENDS