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The Kenya Union of Civil Servants Homa Bay branch has said the three per cent proposed housing levy will eat into their meagre income -- leaving them with nothing to spare for fare.
Branch Secretary Tom Akech said the levy will worsen their financial problems.
Akech argued that the workers had committed their salaries to many loans and deductions, leaving them with only one-third of their salaries.
Therefore, anybody who deducts three per cent of their salaries intends to make them poorer.
"Our salaries have been deducted to a level that we no longer have any float. We are going to be in a serious financial crisis if three per cent of our salaries is deducted," Akech said.
President William Ruto's government is planning to deduct three per cent of workers' salaries to fund affordable housing projects.
Ruto wants workers to contribute to the project to enable Kenyans to own houses at cheaper costs besides creating employment for citizens.
But the Kenya Union of Civil Servants is opposed to the deductions, saying the housing project is not a priority to workers.
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Addressing journalists in Homa Bay town, Akech said the workers had not told the government that they needed houses.
"The housing project is not a priority to civil servants. We have not told our employer that we need the houses," Akech said.
The secretary argued that many civil servants are facing financial crises due to loans and other statutory deductions. He said most of them are left with one-third of their salaries after their pay slips were committed to loans.
"Pay slips of civil servants are burdened with deductions. People have committed their pay slips to loans and statutory deductions. We now remain with one-third of our salaries for survival," Akech said.
He argued that deducting another three per cent will impoverish them.
"We will not manage to pay our children's school fees if this three per cent is deducted," he added.
Akech pleaded with the government to rescind the decision or they will call a strike.
"We plead with the government to stop the planned deductions. Failure to do so we will down our tools," Akech said.
The planned deduction has caused an uproar among government workers across the country.
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