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IndustrialOtherCause 2 of 2005· [2006] KEIC 1 (KLR)

Kenya Quarry & Mine Workers’ Union v Ndugu Transport Co. Ltd. (Cause 2 of 2005) (Employment and Labour) [2006] KEIC 1 (KLR)

Industrial Court at Nairobi
11 October 2006
CCC. P. Chemuttut
523 words in judgment
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The bottom line

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When Kenyan employers and unions sign a collective agreement during a court case, the court treats the dispute as settled and drops anything the agreement doesn't cover.

What this practically means

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Executive summary

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This was a trade dispute referred to the Industrial Court at Nairobi by the Minister for Labour on 20th January 2005 under section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, accompanied by the statutory certificate of the Labour Commissioner under section 14(9)(e). The dispute, filed by the Kenya Quarry & Mine Workers' Union against Ndugu Transport Co. Ltd., originally comprised 26 clauses of a proposed collective agreement, including probationary period, working hours, overtime, medical benefits, leave entitlements, redundancy, protective clothing, housing, casual workers, sub-contracting, summary dismissal, check-off, retirement and the effective date. The Union's National General Secretary filed a memorandum on 1st March 2005 and the Federation of Kenya Employers filed the Company's reply on 19th April 2005. The matter was kept in abeyance to allow out-of-court settlement. On 5th October 2005 the parties signed a collective agreement for the period 1st May 2005 to 30th May 2007, consisting of a recognition part and 24 clauses. The court, per CP Chemuttut J, held that as the agreement was silent on the remaining issues those items were treated as dropped, and that no dispute remained for adjudication. The case was marked as settled and the file closed and consigned. Neither party appeared at the hearing.

Key legal issues

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01

Effect of a signed collective agreement on a dispute referred to the Industrial Court

Holding

The dispute is settled and the court marks the case as settled, closing and consigning the file; issues not covered by the agreement are treated as dropped

Reasoning

The dispute was referred by the Minister for Labour under section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act. After the reference, the parties negotiated and on 5th October, 2005 signed a collective agreement for the period 1st May, 2005 to 30th May 2007, comprising a recognition part and 24 clauses. The agreement was silent on all other issues, so those items were treated as dropped. Since the parties had themselves resolved the dispute, nothing remained for adjudication.

p. 3

Legal principles established

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  • Where parties to a trade dispute signed a collective agreement covering the matters in dispute, no dispute remains for adjudication and the matter is marked as settled

Court orders

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  1. 1.The case is marked as settled
  2. 2.The file is closed and consigned
Jurisdiction invoked
Section 8 of the Trade Disputes Act, Cap. 234, Laws of Kenya

Key timeline

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Practical implications

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Frequently asked questions

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Later judgments citing this (12)

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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 Quarry & Mine Workers’ Union v Ndugu Transport Co. Ltd. (Cause 2 of 2005)  (Employment and Labour) [2006] KEIC 1 (KLR)", Case Analysis (2006). Cause 2 of 2005. Source: https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/judgment/keic/2006/1/eng@2006-10-11

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