Parliament’s labour committee meets former Bidco employees in Thika

The National Assembly’s Labour and Social Welfare Committee on Thursday met with hundreds of former employees of Thika-based Bidco Africa Limited who have had long standing complaints over what they term as gross violation of labour laws by their employer.

The meeting was convened after Kiambu Town MP Jude Njomo forwarded a petition to Parliament calling for the committee to investigate allegations that the Bidco factory workers are often unfairly dismissed from work, are denied proper protection gear and promotions and that female workers are normally sexually harassed by their supervisors.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr Njomo said the issues raised by the workers are too weighty to be dismissed, owing to the fact that the employees have previously attempted to have the issue addressed but in vain.

"The weight of this issue needs to be addressed nationally so that every Bidco worker gets accorded their respect," he said.

WORKERS' WELFARE

The MP appreciated that the giant food manufacturing company has played a huge role in enriching the lives of Kenyans through its products but noted that the success of Bidco should be reflected through the welfare of its workers.

"Ours is not to victimise Bidco but to ensure every industry aligns itself to existing labour laws. This should serve as an example to the rest of the industries in Thika. We do not want our people harassed for the simple reason that there is unemployment in the country," he said.

The committee chairperson sought to find out if female employees are sexually harassed by their supervisors.

The workers claimed that female employees who reject advances from their supervisors are often unfairly dismissed from work.

"At one time, 73 of us were dismissed after forwarding our grievances to the human resource office they sent us a letter asking us to show cause why the company should not dismiss us and sent us home," confessed Peter Karanja Ndung'u, a former employee.

Damaris Muriu, a former employee, claimed she was dismissed after falling and injuring her back while on duty.

"I sought for compensation but was denied. My injury, coupled with the long working hours at the factory has made me unable to perform common household tasks like cleaning and washing clothes," she said.

The formers employees claimed that among over 2,000 Bidco workers, only 65 of them have joined a workers’ union.

The meeting was also attended by Thika Town MP Alice Ng'ang'a, the committee’s chairman David Were, members Samuel Gichigi (Kipipiri), Hassan Wanyoha, (Matuga) and Jonnes Mlolwa (Voi).

BIDCO'S RESPONSE

In response, the Bidco management accused some of its former employees of having ulterior motives.

One of the company's directors, Mr Dipak Shah, says that the company welcomes investigations into the allegations by the former employees insisting that Bidco has fully complied with existing labour as well as environmental laws and that all its procedures follow best practices and international standards.

"We are aware that there are petitions before Parliament concerning the company. We are welcoming investigations because we have nothing to hide.

“All our procedures and standards follow best practices and international standards. We uphold the Kenyan Constitution," said Mr Shah.

He added that the company has a total of 1,700 employees, all of whom are on contract, contrary to allegations that the company's employees are employed on casual terms.

"The petitioners may be having their own agenda but we don't know what their personal agendas are because all matters raised in the petition as far as we are concerned as an employer, we comply with all the labour laws of the land," he added.

WORKERS FREE TO JOIN UNION

The management said it is critically important that whatever goes to Parliament be investigated properly as there could be sub judice matters.

"If there are matters sub judice, we will not rest," said the management.

The management also said Bidco workers are free to join the Kenya Chemical Workers Union but refused to divulge details of how many of its employees are registered with the union.

"The Kenya Chemical Workers Union has a presence and an association with Bidco Africa limited. We have a collective bargaining agreement and a recognition agreement that is in place.

“We respect that recognition agreement to the fullest and we comply with all the clauses of the CBA that we ventured into and we have also implemented all the requirements under it," Mr Shah said, on behalf of the management.