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ELRCOtherCause No. 34 of 2000· [2002] KEELRC 5 (KLR)

KENYA CHEMICAL & ALLIED WORKERS’ UNION v ORBIT CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LTD [2002] KEELRC 5 (KLR)

Industrial Court of Kenya
23 May 2002
CCCharles P. Chemmuttut
645 words in judgment
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The bottom line

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A Kenyan industrial dispute over a collective bargaining agreement ended with the parties settling out of court, converting 50 casual workers to permanent staff.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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The Minister for Labour, under Section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, referred to the Industrial Court a dispute between the Kenya Chemical & Allied Workers' Union and Orbit Chemical Industries Ltd arising from the Managing Director's refusal to sign a Collective Bargaining Agreement. Five issues were in dispute: public holidays and Sundays; sick leave; maternity leave; casual employees; and night shift allowance. The reference, accompanied by a statutory certificate from the Labour Commissioner under Section 14(9)(e), was received on 13 March 2000, and written memoranda were filed by both parties. The Court adjourned the matter on several occasions to allow the parties to attempt an amicable settlement. On 13 March 2001 the parties signed a memorandum of compromise resolving issues 1, 2, 3 and 5, leaving only the issue of casual employees for determination. On the date of the award, the parties presented a final memorandum of settlement, signed on behalf of the company by Sachen Chandaria (Director), M.A. Pirmohamed (Financial Controller) and J.M. Ogode (Human Resources Manager), and on behalf of the Union by D.W. Ogutu (National General Secretary) and Christopher Ongera (Shopsteward), settling the remaining issue. Under the settlement, public holidays and Sundays are paid holidays with double-rate overtime for work on those days; the sick leave and night shift allowance clauses remain as in the draft CBA; female employees are entitled to 60 days' maternity leave with full pay; and the company is to employ 50 listed casual workers as permanent employees, with the casual clause removed from the CBA. Chemmuttut, J., found the terms fair and reasonable and, as prayed, marked the dispute as settled and closed the file. No costs order was made. Judgment dated 23 May 2002 at Nairobi.

Key legal issues

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Whether the dispute over refusal to sign the Collective Bargaining Agreement should be determined by the Court or disposed of upon the parties' settlement

Holding

The Court adopted the parties' memorandum of settlement as the disposal of the dispute, marking it settled and closing the file.

Reasoning

The Minister for Labour referred the dispute to the Court under Section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, on five issues. During the pendency of the proceedings, the parties negotiated and resolved issues 1, 2, 3 and 5 in a memorandum of compromise signed in March 2001, and later settled the remaining issue 4 (Casual Employees). The Court found the settlement terms fair and reasonable and, as prayed, marked the dispute settled and closed the file.

p. 2

Legal principles established

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  • Where parties to a dispute referred to the Industrial Court reach an amicable settlement on all issues, and the Court finds the terms fair and reasonable, the Court may mark the dispute as settled and close the file.

Court orders

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  1. 1.The dispute is marked as settled on the terms of the memorandum of settlement signed by the parties
  2. 2.The file is closed

Authorities

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Legislation

  • Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, Laws of KenyaSection 8
  • Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, Laws of KenyaSection 14(9)(e)
Jurisdiction invoked
Section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, Laws of Kenya, on reference by the Minister for Labour, with a statutory certificate from the Labour Commissioner under Section 14(9)(e) of the Act

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Later judgments citing this (1)

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Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.

Cite this brief

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Cite this brief

Caselaw, "KENYA CHEMICAL & ALLIED WORKERS’ UNION v ORBIT CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES LTD [2002] KEELRC 5 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2002). Cause No. 34 of 2000. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2002/5/eng@2002-05-23

Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.