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More than 2,000 Export Processing Zone (EPZ) factory employees in Mombasa are protesting poor pay and insecurity even as owners claim they have settled their grievances.

Simba Apparel EPZ Ltd workers have vowed to continue with their strike until all the grievances are addressed.

Tailors and Textile Workers Union chief shop steward Meshack Mwangangi accused the management of allowing a few workers to sneak in crude weapons to intimidate and harass colleagues inside the factories.

“There are a few individuals well known to the management who are allowed to come to work with knives, hammers and pangas and use these crude weapons to harass colleagues who are protesting against the inhumane working conditions,” he said.

Company director Hitesh Palan termed the strike illegal saying it was being fueled by internal fights between two shop stewards of the union with the support of a local politician.

He said the company has lost Sh20 million which amounts to some 100,000 garments which would have been exported to the US market.

“The management has taken into consideration all the grievances being raised by the workers. We have invited the county labor officer and union officials from Nairobi to mediate on the dispute between the two groups, the workers have declined the offer and continued to paralyse the operations,” he said.