The impact of austerity-era cuts is being felt widely as workers face stagnant pay, delayed salaries and wages and longer working hours.
Younger workers have been hit hardest and, in some cases, are on reduced pay scales, facing low employment levels and struggling to make ends meet. Hence, there is rising militancy among trade unions and a growing appetite to reject productivity measures linked to negotiated pay deals.
In the case of tea pickers, there is still tension after the Court of Appeal reduced the 30 per cent increase in basic wages that they were awarded for 2014 and 2015 by the Industrial and Labour Relations Court. Tea pickers allied to the Kenya Plantation and Agriculture Workers Union (KPAWU) will now get a 16 per cent raise for the 2014/2015 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
Before the intervention by the courts, there was palpable tension and fears that a protracted settlement would bring down the sector. Players such as the many small farms, who would have struggled to stay in business matching the higher rates, are grateful for the court ruling.
PROTRACTED COURT PROCESS
Unfortunately, the sector is not out of the woods yet. With negotiations on the 2016/2017 CBA are under way, there is a risk of getting back to the protracted court process.
The KPAWU, the country's biggest umbrella union for tea pickers, has publicly opposed the court decision and vowed to continue pushing for higher wages. But that would be considered a repudiation of the agreement and trigger financial losses for tea companies struggling to honour the 2014/2015 deal, which, though lower than the union's demand, was still relatively generous.
The proponents for higher 2016/2017 CBA figures are seeking an unrealistic across-the-board change in employees' terms and conditions at all costs. The outcome has been an unnecessary bureaucracy and slowness when responding to the requirements and needs of an industry that sells to global markets competing with players not facing such pressure.
Should this collapse the industry, the effect will be severe and felt widely over a long time.
SPECIAL CASE
Tea pickers and their unions may believe they have a special case. But what about managers, security guards and other employees, who, in many cases, have had to deliver even greater productivity for tea companies without demanding salary increment on a yearly basis? Any deal for one group would, inevitably, have a knock-on effect.
Multinationals account for 40 per cent of Kenya's tea output, almost exclusively employ the growing cadre of world-class trained agri-scientists and have heavily invested in research and development. The huge route-to-market infrastructure, port logistics, warehousing, brokers and tea tasters owe their existence to them.
The statistics are compelling. Tea stands out as the leading foreign exchange earner. For example, tea brought Sh114 billion in 2013, though it recorded a significant decrease in 2014 when it recorded Sh101 billion.
The figures for 2015, 2016 and 2017 (Sh125 billion, Sh120 billion and Sh127 billion, respectively) further indicate the impact that has catapulted the industry to the top position.
FOREIGN EXCHANGE
That constitutes an astute cumulative contribution of 20 per cent to the economy under the foreign exchange umbrella. Besides, the industry has maintained the livelihoods of close to 650,000 Kenyans who directly earn their living from tea.
The crop generates close to seven per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and up to four million Kenyans directly or indirectly derive their livelihoods from the sector. That is many more people than the unions represent but whose livelihoods are threatened by any excessive demands.
There is an urgent need for the government to cushion the the tea industry from volatility.
Mr Odongo comments on social issues
