Solomon Wanjala & 6 others (Suing on Behalf of the Proposed, Kenya National Union of Breakdowns Recovery, Commuters & Freight Agency Workers) v Registrar of Trade Unions [2021] KEELRC 144 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court ordered the Registrar of Trade Unions to register a new transport workers' union, ruling her refusal was baseless and unconstitutional.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Compliance with statutory registration requirements
The Appellants complied with sections 12 and 18 of the Labour Relations Act; the question was answered in the affirmative.
The proposed union obtained a certificate of promotion dated 27 March 2017, lodged its registration application with the prescribed fee, constitution, attendance register, minutes and signatures of seven members, all attached to the memorandum of appeal. The Registrar caused a Gazette Notice to be published notifying sector unions of the application and did not call for further information under section 18(3) or seek a name alteration under section 18(4).
The sufficiency-of-representation test under section 14(1)(d)
The Registrar's finding that the Transport Workers Union sufficiently represented the targeted workers was unsupported by evidence and the rejection failed the statutory test.
The form D grounds asserted coverage by the Transport Workers Union without empirical evidence such as recognition agreements or CBAs. The Registrar had registered several other unions in the transport sector while the Transport Workers Union existed, undermining the claim of sufficiency. Judicial notice of the large, under-represented transport workforce was taken. Further, the Registrar did not consider section 14(2), which permits multi-sector unions with protective constitutional provisions.
Justification of the limitation of the right to form and join a union under Article 24(1)
The refusal was not a reasonable or justifiable limitation of the Appellants' rights under Article 41 of the Constitution.
Under Article 20(3)(b) the court must adopt the interpretation most favourable to the enforcement of rights. The Registrar did not apply reasonableness and justification, failed to address section 14(2), did not demonstrate she considered the proposed union's constitution, and produced no evidence of the National Labour Board's advice that allegedly preceded the refusal, the form D making no mention of the Board.
Legal principles established
#- Once an application for registration of a trade union complies with sections 12, 13 and 14 of the Labour Relations Act and the Constitution, the Registrar has no choice but to register it unless another registered union is sufficiently representative of the interests concerned.
- The burden lies on the Registrar to demonstrate with tangible evidence that an objecting union sufficiently represents the whole or a substantial proportion of the interests of the sector in question.
- Under section 14(2) of the Labour Relations Act, the Registrar may register a union of persons working in more than one sector upon examining the union's constitution for suitable provisions protecting sectoral interests.
Court orders
#- 1.The Registrar of Unions is directed to register the Kenya National Union of Breakdown Recovery, Commuters & Freight Agency Workers and issue it with a certificate of registration in Form B set out in the second schedule to the Labour Relations Act No. 14 of 2007 within 14 days
- 2.Each party bears its own costs of the suit
- On appeal from
- Registrar of Trade Unions
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Section 30 of the Labour Relations Act
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Later judgments citing this (1)
#Judgments in the corpus that rely on this one. Where the Court said how it treated the authority, that is shown.
Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Solomon Wanjala & 6 others (Suing on Behalf of the Proposed, Kenya National Union of Breakdowns Recovery, Commuters & Freight Agency Workers) v Registrar of Trade Unions [2021] KEELRC 144 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2021). Appeal No. 1 of 2019. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2021/144/eng@2021-12-14
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.