Farm workers to receive pay hike if bill passes

By Antony Gitonga                                

Naivasha, Kenya: The minimum salary for flower farm workers in the country is expected to rise to Sh10,000 per month if parliament passes the miscellaneous amendment on the labor institution act.

Working conditions for the thousands of workers will also change as the amendment goes through the third reading on Thursday.

The chairman parliamentary committee on agriculture John Mututho who has sponsored the amendment exuded confidence that the bill would sail through.

The Naivasha Mp said that for years, workers in the floriculture sector had been poorly paid despite earning billions of shillings annually.

“The amendment has gone through the first and the second reading and am sure that my colleagues will endorse this amendment,” he said.

Speaking in Naivasha, Mututho noted that many workers were receiving less that Sh3, 000 per month despite the harsh economic times.

The legislator said that already the floriculture wages council had been formed as one way of addressing challenges in the sector.

“The floriculture sector is one of the leading foreign exchange earners in the country but the workers have little to show for it,” he said.

Mututho is behind the alcoholic control act and has been in the forefront of fighting against the importation of GMO foods.

He said that the amendment would see the poor working conditions in the farms addressed.

“Farmers will have no option but to improve the workings so that they are in conformity with the law,” he said.