• Kudheiha represents most of the nurses, clinical officers and support staff of the hospital.
• Aruasa said issues covered included how staff should be recruited, trained and promoted, and handling disputes in an amicable manner.
The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret has signed a CBA with a workers union just two days after it signed a similar one with KMPDU.
The hospital signed the latest agreement with Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers.
Kudheiha represents most of the nurses, clinical officers and support staff of the hospital.
Hospital CEO Dr Wilson Aruasa said they will sign other CBA agreements with two more unions. The CBAs will give a pay rise and other non-financial benefits to all staff.
Dr Aruasa and Kudheiha secretary general Albert Njeru led other officials in signing the latest CBA. It will cover four years.
“Kudheiha is the oldest union at MTRH and the CBA we have signed is the fourth and that is evidence of our good relations with the union just like others,” he said.
Dr Aruasa said the hospital wants to ensure smooth flow of services because it serves patients from Kenya and other parts the region including Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, among others
Njeru said there have been negotiations for the last one year, culminating to the signing of the CBA.
“We thank Dr Aruasa because he helped break the deadlocks we had during the negotiations and as he says, we are equally keen to ensure that the hospital serves our people without disruptions caused by strikes,” he said.
Njeru urged hospital staff to double their efforts in service delivery.
Last week, MTRH signed a CBA with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, giving the medics increased salaries among other financial and non-financial benefits.
Dr Aruasa and KMPDU secretary general Dr Davji Bhimji Atella led other officials from both sides in signing the CBA at MTRH.
They said the CBA was a culmination of talks which lasted one year.
The CBA runs from July this year to June 2026. Dr Aruasa said it would enhance industrial harmony and labour relations between the hospital and the doctors working at the institution.
Dr Aruasa said all CBAs factored in guidance and advice from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
He said MTRH leads in ensuring a good and secure work environment for its staff.
"We rarely have disputes between staff and the management. We always sit down and discuss all issues with the union. The bottomline is consultative approach to management,”Aruasa said.
He said MTRH regards the union officials as part of the management and not external individuals.
Aruasa said issues covered included how staff should be recruited, trained and promoted, and handling disputes in an amicable manner.
He said MTRH is an international organisation dealing with medical issues and research and hence it benefits more from stability in labour relations with workers.
Dr Atella said industrial harmony enhances services to the public and he thanked MTRH management for engaging in talks over renewal of the CBA without hitches, like strikes.
“We are happy that the previous CBA before this one was fully implemented and we believe the one we sign will also be implemented without any issues like strikes. We have put in place a framework for handling all matters with the management,” he said.
Dr Atella said the same move by MTRH should be emulated by county governments and other institutions so that it helps to improve management and service delivery to the public.
He said unions had the capacity to negotiate with management as concerns welfare of workers to avoid disruptive strikes.