Celebration as dock workers' pay raised

By PATRICK BEJA

More than 6,000 unionisable members of the Dock Workers Union (DWU) have been thrown into celebration following an average 22 per cent salary increase.

There was song and dance at the Bandari College during a meeting called by union leaders to announce the salary boom awarded by Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) last Saturday.

This followed lengthy Collective Bargaining Agreement talks between the union and KPA management under the Joint Industrial Council (JIC).

DWU Secretary General Simon Sang, said: "The award arising from the bull-fighting exercise is reasonable to dockers."

Higher for lower grades

DWU national chairman Jaffer Kiti and Mr Sang were mobbed by dockers following the announcement. KPA public relations manager Bernard Osero yesterday confirmed the salary increase.

"The salary increase was higher for workers on lower grades compared to those on the higher level. The 22 per cent is the average and it is backdated to January," Mr Osero said.

Following the hike, the lowest paid dockworker on HG4 grade takes home Sh20,746 monthly, up from Sh16,610.

The dockworker at the apex of the lower grade will earn Sh30,146 a month from Sh24,460 previously.

The dockworker on HG 1, the highest grade for unionisable members, takes home Sh41,972 instead of Sh34,760 a month.

Those at the apex of the highest grade will now earn Sh63,346 a month up from Sh52,570.

House allowance for the lowest paid dockers rose from about Sh10,000 a month to Sh12,000 while those on the higher grade shot up from about Sh13,500 to Sh23,00. This represents about 15 per cent rise.

In the last CBA, KPA awarded the dockers 40 per cent salary hike paid in two years.

But even as the dockers celebrate, sources at KPA said the latest award was given amid financial pressure owing to a bloated workforce, which may prompt retrenchment or restructuring. The weekend pay deal reached at a Kilifi hotel drives the annual KPA wage bill to extra Sh1.9 billion.

KPA has a total of 7,330 workers 6,134 who are union members.

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