The Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union' has
protested over the sacking of 3,000 tea pickers by a multi-national company.
Deputy secretary general Thomas Kipkemboi said Eastern Produce (K) Ltd handed summary dismissal to the workers in
Nandi Hills without due process of the law.
He said the firm has recruited new
workers in total disregard of an order by the Employment and Labour Relations Court that no worker should be punished over a strike.
Kipkemboi and Nandi branch
secretary Eliakim Ochieng were speaking
in Kapsabet on Saturday.
They said the sacked workers were subjected to the
most inhuman treatment by the company.
“They were evicted from their houses, which they had lived
for more than 24 years without notice or any benefit… by the company management and
with the supervision of police,” Kipkemboi said.
Seven villages have remained deserted for two weeks since a section of the plantation was set on fire by workers over pay disputes.
“The rule of natural justice was ignored as they were thrown out of their houses at night and
their property looted at the road sides without being heard,” Kipkemboi said.
