BY BUSINESS DAILY
The Kenyan subsidiary of British consumer goods giant Unilever Plc has embarked on a massive layoffs plan targeting 11,000 employees, the workers’ union said as it announced a major battle with the company.
Kericho-based Unilever Tea, which has 16,000 employees, said the layoffs are in line with a reorganisation plan that aims to make the third largest tea company in the world “agile” in a changing business environment.
“This has been aimed at ensuring we have an organisation that is agile, fit to compete and efficient in our quest to respond to rapidly changing business needs,” Unilever Tea human resources manager Mary Wanyonyi said in a February 27 memo to employees.
“It is in this regard that Unilever Tea Kenya is offering voluntary separation to non-management employees to be conducted strictly on voluntary basis.”
The tea grower said affected employees will be eligible for severance pay of 23 days for each completed year of service, notice pay in accordance with terms of service, any outstanding leave days and one way bus fare as per the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The tea workers’ union, however, reacted sharply to the retrenchment plan and accused the company of breaching labour laws.
Kenya Plantation and Agricultural Workers Union assistant secretary-general Meshack Khisa said Unilever’s decision to send workers home amounts to involvement in “unfair labour practices” and “corporate greed.”
“(The union) strongly condemns Unilever Tea Kenya for engaging in corporate greed and jeopardising over 11,000 unionised workers’ jobs through a separation exercise that only targets unionised employees,” he said in a statement.