Former Raiply workers seek CS's intervention in Sh 33million salary arrears

Eldoret, Sunday April 16, 2023,

K.N.A  By Kiptanui Cherono

More than 600 former employees of the cash-strapped Eldoret based Raiply wood company have petitioned Cabinet Secretary (CS) for Labour and Social protection Florence Bore to intervene in their plight.

The former workers whose services were terminated last year are demanding their salary arrears amounting to Sh 33 million which they claim the company has failed to clear.

According to their spokesman Timothy Juma who worked for the firm for 20 years, their efforts to seek dialogue with the management over their grievances has hit a dead end.

Speaking to the media in Eldoret town, Juma said every time they try to engage the management, they are asked to forget about their dues citing the dwindling performance of the company.

He asked the Labour CS to make an impromptu tour of the company and assess for herself the situation on the ground, noting that workers have been subjected to unfair labour practices like working for longer hours without pay.

Juma claimed that to compound their woes, the company has threatened to evict them from its houses for nagging them over their salary dues.

"What we want is for the company to pay us our dues as we worked for it and then we part ways peacefully since we have no intention of sticking here," said Juma.

Another former employee, Richard Simiyu also took issue with the company for refusing to disclose to them the whereabouts of their plywood Sacco contributions amounting to Sh 67 million.

"Whenever we ask for our Sacco dues that date back to over twenty years, the company management keeps making promises to us which are never fulfilled," claimed Simiyu.

When contacted, the company's Human Resource manager Henry Ogolla said that he was not in a position to talk on the matter.

"I am not in a position to talk about the workers' claims since it is only the company director who is allowed to address the media on the matter," said Ogolla.

However, a senior official in the company who declined to be named, said the company was unable to afford salaries for its workers due to the crisis facing the sector coupled with economic hardship the country was facing.

Courtesy K.N.A