Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union v Kenya Pipeline Company Ltd, Salaries and Remuneration Commission & Attorney General (Petition 1 of 2015) [2016] KEELRC 1760 (KLR)

Sections 2, 21 and 25 of the Labour Relations Act provide for registration of branches. Registration gives branches juridical personality distinct from the national union. Articles 22 and 258 of the Constitution allow any person, including associations acting in the interest of their members, to institute rights proceedings; Article 260 defines person to include incorporated and unincorporated bodies. The objection therefore fails in constitutional petitions.

The 1st Respondent is a public corporation under the State Corporations Act and its employees fall within the broad definition of public officer in Article 260. The Court of Appeal in the KNUT case held that SRC's advice must be sought before concluding a CBA involving public officers and that such advice binds all persons and state organs. That holding binds this Court under stare decisis, rendering the Petitioner's contrary issues moot.

A collective bargaining agreement becomes legally enforceable only upon registration under section 59(5) of the Labour Relations Act. Since the 31 July 2014 agreement was never reduced into a CBA and SRC input had not been factored in, the salary arrears claims were inchoate and moot per KNUT. The proper course is registration and implementation of the CBA signed on 14 November 2014.