Public service unions to stage weekly protests over unfavourable govt policies

Public service sector trade unions have declared they will hold demonstrations every Tuesday to force the government to adhere to demands for key reforms.

The protests stem from what the unions describe as the government's recent irresponsible statements regarding public servants, including casualisation of labour, increased taxation, breaches of Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), and efforts to weaken trade unions—which they believe could devastate the public service.

Union leaders issued a statement on Monday, asking the government to cease issuing unilateral threats to public workers and initiate meaningful dialogue with their representatives based on a tripartite framework.

“The government must stop threatening union leaders [with the withdrawal of] dues and generally making the work environment toxic. Over one million strong public servants deserve better treatment by the government," the unions said.

"Workers are not ready to pander to the whims of an insensitive government that has a cavalier attitude towards its employees, whose statements do not inspire hope among workers, respect no law nor structures and instead incite workers to down their tools."

The bodies that co-signed the statement included the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS), the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT).

The others were the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers Union (KUPPET), the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists & Dentists Union (KMPDU), the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), the Dock Workers Union (DWU), and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).

The unions emphasised that government pronouncements have directly assaulted labour rights, openly violating the Constitution of Kenya and ignoring the principles of tripartism and social dialogue.

They noted that such statements from the government could trigger undue panic, anxiety, lowered morale, and diminished productivity in the public sector.

“These reckless utterances are likely to cause unnecessary panic, anxiety, low morale and reduced productivity in the public service sector. It is the public servants that are charged with the responsibility of implementing the government's programmes and policies," the statement said.

The unions also stressed the importance of respecting signed CBAs, specifically citing the 2017–2021 deal the government signed with doctors, which is one of the reasons why they have been on strike since March 15, 2024.

“CBAs are a constitutionally given right to workers and are regulated by law and guided by ILO Conventions that Kenya has ratified. Parties to such an agreement must respect it lest it lead to industrial anarchy. Therefore, the Doctors' CBA (2017–2021), which is the subject of the ongoing strike, must be respected first to allow parties to engage in any further negotiation,” they said.

Additionally, the workers' bodies demanded that the government respect employment contracts that guarantee permanent and pensionable terms for public servants.

This demand follows recent statements from the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Moses Kuria, who suggested a shift from permanent to contractual employment terms.

“This is in total disregard for laws governing the labour industry, the Kenyan constitution (2010),  and international labour treaties and conventions to which the country is a signatory,” the unions said.