Insurance Firm Labour Dispute

By Godfrey Tung'wet Posted 04 July 2006 @ 12:19 pm EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Nairobi (IBTimes.com) - Monarch Insurance Company is faced with a major industrial row over the sacking of 19 unionisable employees.

Company's managing director, Eliud Muriithi, said the employees had been declared redundant because of the need to improve operational efficiency. He cited increasing competition that had significantly eroded the firm’s premium income.

"The action taken is aimed at helping us to fulfill our vision of being a world class insurer and was in consistent with relevant laws," he said in a statement.

However, the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU), which represents the workers, on Monday vowed to resist the move terming it illegal and against Labour laws.

BIFU National Organising Secretary, Tom O’Odero, said the redundancies were against the Collective Bargains Agreement and labour laws.
"Neither the union nor Labour officials were involved in negotiating severance terms as per redundancy laws."

He said the union and the sacked workers would engage in picketing at the company offices in Nairobi to force the company officials engage them in dialogue.

O’Odero questioned why the insurance firm issued two different sacking letters. He reckons that the letter copied to the union cites that the employees’ work had been terminated as part of an ongoing restructuring process, which came into effect on June 30, 2006. But copies to the affected workers indicate, "the company had carried out an in-depth review of its operations and concluded it was grossly over-manned".