KCB plays hardball in legal tussle with workers union

The day the country’s biggest lender by assets in the country walked away from the negotiating table, took off gloves and entered into a mudslinging contest with its own employee was a sad day for union workers.

One would expect a pace setter like Kenya Commercial Bank with 6483 workers, cross listed in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya and operating in all the East African country would shy off bad press fover a labour tiff but they have entered the ring bare knuckled.

In what is viewed as largely axe grinding, intimidation and blatant disregard for due process KCB has pushed on to implementing its performance measuring tool despite a spirited fight by unionits.

One Gabriel Okomo, the Kenya Commercial Bank Unionisable Employees chairman has been a man under siege his fate precariously hanging in the balance over a disciplinary committee that sits tomorrow.

KCB accused the unionist of inciting his colleagues to reject a well-orchestrated coup against the union by the employer in a court case that has dragged on since 2017.

“Around 2015 people were getting warning letters over their performance. So we prayed in court to stop appraisals from being used to terminate employment and other disciplinary measures being instituted based on the Balanced Score Card,” Mr Okomo said.

“We have had a constant push and pull over what we felt was un-procedural appraisals,” he said.

Since the dispute went to curt, over 2000 union workers had not been upraised for 2 years and their bonuses had not been paid, KCB was simply tired with the negotiations that had taken forever and a union that remained unflinching.

The workers even defiantly stood by while their own employer denied them any loans while the dispute dragged in court.

KCB loans to staff has declined from Sh11.944 billion in December 2016 to Sh11.348 billion by December 2017 and is currently at Sh11.177 as at June half year numbers.

The bank then switched tact, according to union sources, they approached the court and offered to solve the problem with an arbitration.

The consent dated September 7 would allow the warring parties find a middle ground by September 20 and when the lender and Bankers Insurance and Finance Union would get final orders from Judge Maureen Onyango.

A contentious clause in the order led to souring of relations which KCB interpreted that it allowed room for the lender to carry out 2017 BSC and appraise for the current year while the unions would be able to contest the applications.

KCB Group HR Director Paul Russo said the order had offered an opening for union to contest but noted that modalities had not yet been worked out.

“Item 4 of the Court Order asked the Bank and the Union to agree on the mode of intervention by the Union when employees contest performance appraisal. When the parties appeared before the Judge on 20th September 2018 for the mention of the case, the Union and the Bank had not concluded discussing Item 4,” Mr Russo said on email.

However KCB had decided not to wait for the final orders and issued a circular No.62/2018 on September 10, compelling the employees to carry out their appraisals.

According to KCB the order had opened the doors for doing the appraisals but the union differed stating that the consent has to receive a final order after the consent is agreed to by both parties.

Mr Russo said that the Court later gave a directive that the Bank and the Union discuss and agree on the mode of intervention by the Union when employees contest performance appraisal or in case of failure to reach an agreement, each party is to file with the Court proposals of how item 4 can be addressed before 22nd October 2018 when the matter comes up for hearing.

“In this regard, the Bank agreed to meet with the Union on 2nd October 2018 but the Union (BIFU) and the Central Staff Committee members (body representing workers in the Bank on behalf of the union) failed to turn up for the meeting,” he said.

But union officials discount this assertion saying that the lender kept postponing the meeting over the absence of some directors, only to cancel on the last day after they reportedly came in 20 minutes late.

“We had seven days to talk but the bank only called us today (Tuesday last week) when appraisals had been finished and we had not reached written consents,” the union leader said.

Mr Okomo said that BIFU as a committee had sought to engage a new lawyer who planned to oppose the BSC at a full hearing on October 22.

In subsequent communication with his said members through a WhatsApp group, Mr Okomo had urged members not to submit to the process.

“This suspended order shall not crystalise because the purported consent has been challenged and inter-parties hearing is coming up on September 20,” Mr Okomo wrote.

He told his colleagues that the lender was mischievously trying to influence the process by submitting evidence that employees had already agreed to the BSC since the appraisals had already been done.

He argued that since the BSC is not in the union collective bargaining agreement (CBA) and letters of appointment it should be withdrawn until the matter is determined.

Angered, the employer then decided to crack on the dissident unionist ploughing through its myriad of rules they came upon a social media policy and fished it to punish him.

According to the policy, KCB staff must not post in social groups in a manner that may be perceived to be on behalf of the bank unless authorized.

Posts must be accurate and must not reveal non-public information about the Group and must refrain from personal attacks and being disrespectful.