More than 50 employees of China Roads and Bridges Cooperation, contractor of the Standard Gauge Railway Project, based in Athi River on Wednesday protested against allegedly being sacked without pay.
The workers held a peaceful demonstration at the company's Athi River site offices to demand payments of their pending month of March wages before being laid off.
Addressing the press in Athi River town shortly after the demonstrations, the workers through their representative, Andrew Makori, said they wanted their wages paid before they are sacked.
“We were all sacked on Monday evening by the company's management without pay," said Makori.
The workers who include laborers, drivers, machine operators and masons said though they were laid off without notice thereby breaching their constitutional rights, they were tired of the frustrations they experienced from their employer hence wanted their payments so as to quit and job seek elsewhere.
Makori said the company used administration officers to chase them away from the company's site offices during the demonstrations.
He said they feared the company would refuse to pay them if they leave the company before the payments were effected.
The spokesman, who disclosed that majority of the workers had been serving the company as casuals since October last year, said the company owed each of them an average of Sh20,000 for the month they claimed ended on March 22.
He said the wages included their normal daily pay of Sh65 per hour, and accumulation of part time payments they had worked for whole of that month.
The workers sought redress at the Mavoko labour office, claiming some of them had difficulties in paying house rents among meeting other domestic needs in their families.