Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited & another (Cause E954 of 2022) [2024] KEELRC 1511 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court ruled that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission's advice binds State corporations, so a union could not register its CBA without SRC approval.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Whether the 2nd Respondent's advice on remuneration binds State corporations in collective bargaining
The advice is mandatory and binding, following the Court of Appeal in Teachers Service Commission v KNUT and subsequent decisions
The Court relied on a catena of recent Court of Appeal decisions restating the TSC v KNUT position. A constitutional provision cannot contain mere unenforceable advice. As the law stands, the 2nd Respondent's advice binds all, effectively making it the decision-maker on public service terms and conditions. The Court, lower in the judicial hierarchy, could not depart from those binding pronouncements.
The effect of Article 230 of the Constitution on the right to collective bargaining under Article 41(5) and ILO Convention No. 98
The Court expressed strong obiter concern that the broad application of Article 230 has effectively extinguished free collective bargaining in the public service
While bound to decline the claim, the Court observed that Article 230, broadly applied, has made the 2nd Respondent's advice binding on all, converting its advisory role into a decision-making mandate. Trade unions in the public service have been rendered moot; the bargaining process is directed by a third party. The Court urged that these weighty constitutional questions be settled at the highest judicial level.
Legal principles established
#- The advice of the 2nd Respondent (the constitutional commission on remuneration) is mandatory and binding, not a mere opinion
- An Employment and Labour Relations Court cannot disregard the binding advice of the 2nd Respondent and register a CBA executed contrary to that advice
Court orders
#- 1.The Claim is declined.
- 2.No order on the costs.
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Original jurisdiction under the Employment and Labour Relations Court Act and Article 162(2) of the Constitution; claim determined under Rule 21 of the Employment and Labour Relations Court (Procedure) Rules, 2016 by agreement of the parties
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Kenya Petroleum Oil Workers Union v Kenya Pipeline Company Limited & another (Cause E954 of 2022) [2024] KEELRC 1511 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2024). Not stated in the judgment as provided. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2024/1511/eng@2024-06-14
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.