Central Organisation of Trade Unions – Kenya (COTU-K) said yesterday it would seek legal interpretation of the mandate of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

Secretary-General Francis Atwoli said Kenya has a progressive Constitution which gives workers the right to collective bargaining.

“COTU-K is taken aback by the move by SRC to proceed with the much-opposed Remuneration and Benefits of State and Other Public Officers Regulations 2022,” Atwoli said in a statement.

He accused SRC of collecting views from the public only for it to disregard their concerns and comments. “That is in character with many government institutions, whereby public participation is done as a constitutional formality rather than for purposes of collecting the views of the public and other contributors,” he added.

He said SRC wanted to interfere with freely negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreements in contravention of Article 41 of the Constitution and  Labour Relations Act Section V and ILO Conventions 87 on the right to organise and to collective bargaining.

“If the Commission does not revert to its advisory role, as stipulated in the constitution, COTU-K, will be forced to move to court to seek a Constitutional interpretation of the mandate of the SRC,” Atwoli said.