Residents of Athi River town within Machakos County have raised concern over meagre wages paid by most industries in the area.
They claimed the industries have seriously contributed to mushrooming of several slums in the town since their employees cannot afford to earn descent livelihoods.
"There are so many industries in Athi River, in fact the town is known nationally as industrial but they pay peanuts, in fact they do not employ," said a residents.
The residents who sought anonymity for fear of being sacked by the industries where they work as casuals claimed most of the industries do not employ but engage employees as casuals.
They said the industries hire staff for at most five months then send them for compulsory leaf only to be called back later to avoid hiring employing them permanently as provided for by labour laws.
According to the desperate residents, some of the industries pay as low as Sh 150 per day in spite of the fact that the casuals work at least for 11 hours each day.
They said the most notorious was a flower company owned by a foreigner and where payments are so meagre since they are offered meals daily while at work.
The residents claimed they were unable to effectively provide basic needs for their families since the earnings were to low reason they opted to be slum dwellers.
Attempts to reach Kenya Industrial Workers Union's representatives Athi River Branch for comments on the residents’ concerns were futile after a number of their phones went unanswered.
They are now calling on the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU’s) intervention arguing that they had no one to turn to as far as their plight were concerned.