BY SAM ALFAN.
High Court has blocked a suspected fraudulent Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between a trade union and Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) that was formally registered on Monday last week.
The Employment and Labour Relations Court had sanctioned the agreement on February 27 following an application by Kenya Electrical Trades and Allied Workers Union while an impostor purported to represent the power company.
Justice Monicah Mbaru has directed the court’s registrar and the union’s representative to help trace the individual who allegedly acted on behalf of the firm resulting in the registration of the CBA.
The parties are to appear on March 8 before Justice Hellen Wasilwa, who allowed the registration of the contentious CBA.
Lawyer Charles Mwongela said KPLC and the union have not concluded consultations on the terms and conditions of service for its unionisable employees.
The firm had forwarded its recommendations to the ministry of Energy for onward transmission to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for approval, he said.
Mwongela said the union had made an abortive attempt on February 22 to have the CBA registered by the court but its representatives did not show up when the matter came up on Thursday.
He accused the union of forum-shopping and non-disclosure of material facts in its bid to have the alleged CBA, dated January 27, this year, registered through fraudulent means.
The lawyer presented eight affidavits sworn by KPLC departmental heads who explained that consultations were still underway between the firm and the union.
The proposed CBA was yet to be finalized since the parent ministry and the SRC have not made their recommendations.
KPLC has protested that the union initiated the court proceedings in bad faith and the exclusion of the employer rendered the certificate of registration unlawful.
The firm wants the certificate invalidated since it threatens industrial relations between the parties.
