SGR workers at a past event. [Photo/ kenya.crazymedias.com]
Over 300 Kenyan workers hired by the Chinese operator of the SGR passenger train are working without contracts, exposing the service to strikes and leaving workers without legal protection.
The employees including ticket sellers and coach attendants had from 2016 been working on a six-month probation which ended in April when they were to sign contracts but that has not happened.China Road Construction and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) hired locals alongside Chinese workers as security officers, train drivers and wagon technicians.Kenya Railways managing director Atanas Maina on Thursday admitted the employees had not signed contracts because the Chinese firm has asked for more time to work on the employees’ terms of service.“We are barely two months into this contract with the operator. Most of the locals have been undergoing training at Railway Training Institute and are now working for the operator as part of the induction programme,” said Maina.“As we speak, the operator is in the process of formalising the contract and I believe it will be resolved in the next few months.”Kenya Railways and CRBC signed an operations, maintenance and service agreement for the Nairobi-Mombasa SGR operation.Under the pact, CRBC will be the operator of the SGR service for five years.The Chinese company will also be expected to maintain equipment and rail tracks.“We have been working for a period of six months on probation, earning between Sh14,000 and Sh35,000 monthly stipend. We intend to negotiate better terms because as it is, we are not paid when off duty or we fall sick,” a workers’ representative said.According to the Kenya Employment Act of 2017 every employee is supposed to be paid sick leave for up to 14 days per year upon completion of two months of service with an employer.