Improve remuneration and work environment for the Kenyan worker

As we mark Labour day, it is important to ask ourselves whether we have achieved economic development as a working nation and whether the Kenyan workers get adequate remuneration for their work.

It has become a tradition over the years that on May 1, as the world celebrates Labour Day, the president announces token increases in the minimum wages that employers often ignore. The Kenyan workers are unhappy, especially in an economic environment that severely limits their purchasing power. The last minimum wage was raised by 12 percent in 2015.

The cost of living today is much higher than it was in previous years, made worse by high inflation rates and redundancies as some companies, unable to sustain their work force, trim them down. During last year's Labour Day celebrations, President Uhuru Kenyatta gave a directive to the taxman not to exact his pound of flesh from overtime payments, bonuses and retirement benefits for low-income earners.

This was lauded by the Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU), which saw it not only as a move in the right direction to improve the workers' welfare, but also to cushion them against hard economic times.

During last year's Labour Day celebrations, COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli urged the Government to consider reviewing the minimum wage for workers. President Uhuru Kenyatta has already indicated his Government will give workers a raise. There is great anticipation among workers and the President should come through for them.

Low-income earners need to feel decent and appreciated. Indeed, as Former International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director General Juan Somavia said in 1999, "Decent work is productive work in which rights are protected, which generates an adequate income with adequate social protection."

A satisfied workforce is the engine that will move this country forward as it also puts the country firmly on course to realising vision 2030 and becoming an industrialised economy by then. We celebrate the Kenyan worker; keep up the spirit and resilience that has seen you through all the hard times.