Over 500 employees of Kenya Meat Commission based at its Athi River headquarters have gone on strike for alleged lack of pay.
The workers accused the plant's management of mismanaging the Sh700 million that was recently allocated to the commission by the national treasury in a bid of reviving it.
Addressing journalists at the company's compound on Monday, the employees, through their point man Daniel Mutua said the top management was busy utilizing the Sh350 million part of the money to conduct retreats across the country instead of settling off debts that it was meant for.
"The management is mismanaging the money by conducting unnecessary retreat for itself instead of settling debts including our salaries, it was on a retreat in Naivasha two weeks ago and now in Machakos town as we "workers" languish in poverty for lack of pay," said Mutua.
Mutua alleged that the company owed them lots of arrears dated as from October this year, which they said included; salaries, gratitude and pending inductions such as SACCO, NHIF, NSSF and Bank loans.
He said they had not been paid any salaries for months of November and December this year, disclosing that the main slaughter had not been operational the whole year due to poor management.
The workers called on the government's intervention by sacking the entire management and appointing a new one as a strategy of reviving what they called collapsed commission.
They dared the Industrialization Cabinet Secretary, Henry Koskey, to lay off all the employees if he could not crack the whip on the plant's management.
"Let Koskey pay workers all their arrears, gratuity and pending inductions, then sack all of them immediately instead of issuing threats that he will do so," said Mutua.
Mutua said frustrations from the company's management began three months ago, immediately it sacked the workers leaders.
The workers alleged that Kenya Union of Commercial, Food and Allied Workers Chief Steward David Masila, his deputy Joshua Mulenge and Secretary Caroline Musyoka were sacked from KMC by its management in September this year for being in the fore front in agitating for rights of employees at the plant.