Transport Workers' Union v Automobile Association of Kenya; Kenya Long-Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers' Union (Interested Party) (Cause 1520 of 2016) [2025] KEELRC 2446 (KLR)
The bottom line
#Kenya's Employment Court refused to reopen census cost orders, confirming that recognition agreements are revoked by the National Labour Board, not judges.
What this practically means
#Executive summary
#Key legal issues
#Review of a prior order on costs of a court-ordered census
The Court declined to issue the orders sought, finding the Claimant Union was stonewalling cooperation with expeditious resolution of the dispute, and declined to grant further enforceable orders
The Motion sought review of the 26 September 2023 Ruling to allocate census costs. The Court had previously directed equal sharing of the repeat census costs on 25 February 2025, but the Claimant Union failed to comply for want of funds. The Court observed that the Claimant Union had sued to assert its rights but was now obstructing the resolution of the dispute, and that the recognition agreement issues lay outside its mandate. It therefore declined to issue any orders.
Mandate to revoke a recognition agreement
Revocation of a recognition agreement is a matter for the National Labour Board, not the Court, and the Respondent had not moved the Board
The background disclosed that the Interested Party and Respondent signed a recognition agreement in July 2016 while the Respondent had a subsisting recognition agreement with the Claimant Union. The Court held that revocation of a recognition agreement is within the mandate of the National Labour Board, which the Respondent had not approached, and that the unions had not referred a trade dispute to the Cabinet Secretary under section 54(6) of the Labour Relations Act.
Legal principles established
#- The revocation of a recognition agreement is not within the mandate of the Court but of the National Labour Board
- A party which invokes the Court's jurisdiction to assert its rights must cooperate in the expeditious and proportionate resolution of the dispute
Court orders
#- 1.The Court declines to issue any of the orders sought in the Motion dated 18 December 2024 or any further enforceable orders
- 2.Each party to bear own costs
- Jurisdiction invoked
- Inherent review/revision powers of the Employment and Labour Relations Court over its own orders in a Cause filed in 2016 (reference to sections 59, 60, 54 and 48 of the Labour Relations Act, 2007)
Key timeline
#Practical implications
#Frequently asked questions
#Cite this brief
#Cite this brief
Caselaw, "Transport Workers' Union v Automobile Association of Kenya; Kenya Long-Distance Truck Drivers and Allied Workers' Union (Interested Party) (Cause 1520 of 2016) [2025] KEELRC 2446 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2025). Not stated in judgment. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keelrc/2025/2446/eng@2025-09-18
Suggested citation format for research notes or client memos. Always verify the original judgment before relying on any point.