SGR train workers. [Photo/ Kenyans.co.ke]
Over 300 Kenyan workers hired by the Chinese operator of the Nairobi-Mombasa Standard Gauge Railway passenger train have finally been issued with one-year renewable contracts.
The employees including welders, coach attendants and ticketing operators, have been working without contracts from April after the expiry of their probation period which begun in October.The workers had complained in July about the delay in the issuance of the contracts warning that they may go on strike.China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC) hired the locals alongside Chinese workers as security personnel, train drivers and wagon technicians.CRBC according to an agreement it signed with the Kenyan government will maintain the SGR equipment and rail tracks according to prescribed manuals and in line with international standards.The Chinese company is also expected to hire 1,000 Kenyans in various positions. The workers will take over the operations of SGR after the expiry of the Kenya Railways-CRBC pact.The 472 kilometer railway line between Mombasa and Nairobi is Kenya’s largest single infrastructural projects since 1963 when Kenya attained independence.The Nairobi-Mombasa SGR line was built at a cost of Sh327 billion.