Over 300 Kerio Valley Development Authority (KVDA) workers are set to seek a court's restraining order to bar their employer from firing them in the oncoming retrenchment exercise.
According to KVDA, laying off the staff is expected to curb recurrent expenditure at the agency and also boost service delivery through restructuring framework.
Nonetheless, the workers representative, the Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union (KPAWU), has vowed to move to court to bar the retrenchment noting that many dependent employees are likely to suffer the blow.
Speaking to journalists in Eldoret on Friday, the KPAWU Secretary Joseph Etabo faulted KVDA's top management saying the union was not consulted before resolving on the retrenchment decision.
"The speed at which the management wanted to do away with targeted employees in a move to reduce its bloated workforce due to financial constraints is worrying," said Etabo.
“We plan to file a case at the Labour Relations Court with a view to compelling KVDA to halt the planned retrenchment exercise until the management engages the Union and the workers for the sake of justice for the employees,” he added.
According to Etabo, KVDA has breached the labor laws and policies.
“As a union, we were not notified one month prior to plans by the management to send some employees home and that is why we have resolved to move to court to stop the exercise until certain issues are addressed,” he said.
KVDA has set aside over Sh300 million that will be used to pay off workers that will agree to go for an early retirement.
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