Water union slams Moses Kuria’s proposal to put civil servants on contracts
The proposal by the Cabinet Secretary for Public Service, Performance and Delivery Management, Moses Kuria, to put civil servants on contracts instead of permanent and pensionable positions continues to attract criticism.
The latest outrage comes from the Kenya Union of Water and Sewerage Employees (KUWASE), which has condemned Kuria’s proposal to end permanent jobs in the civil service.
In a statement, the union’s Nairobi water branch secretary, Wycliffe Onditi, urged the government to withdraw the proposal and focus on issues affecting workers, such as the high cost of living without a pay rise for Kenyans, including civil servants.
We condemn the government’s proposal as it has consequences, the proposal is a tall order as we know that there are CBAs that are enforceable in law, the existing employment letters in permanent and pensionable terms and the employers/government owe the pension schemes billions,” said Mr Onditi.
The union further said that the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions are ratified by the state, of which Kenya is a member, and that the County Government Act Section 138 states that an employer shall not alter the terms of remuneration, pension or allowances to the detriment of an employee.
As the country celebrated International Labour Day, the union said it had nothing to celebrate despite providing critical and essential services to the country, while struggling with the skyrocketing cost of living.
“Like other Kenyans, they pay taxes as a patriotic duty, but arbitrary tax increases hurt them. The intention of increasing taxes may be good but the problem is that it becomes punitive.”
KUWASE also said it has been a long time since the government reviewed the salaries of workers considering the fact that the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), National Social Security Fund (NSSF) and other taxes have increased while the same stagnant salary that workers have been earning over the years.
Mr Onditi also noted that clean and safe water is beyond the reach of a significant portion of the country’s population and called on the government to progressively increase the capitation to develop new and alternative sources of water.
“This is a perennial problem in the wake of the heavy rains that have ravaged the country causing chaos and devastation with many losing their lives to floods.”
This comes days after civil servants spoke out against Kuria’s statement.