The Central Organisation of Trade Unions (COTU) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli has urged the government to take immediate action to review and improve the minimum wage for Kenyan workers.
In his New Year address, Atwoli emphasised the urgent need for the government to move quickly on raising the statutory minimum wage, which currently varies depending on location and job category.
He urged private sector employers to foster a conducive atmosphere for Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) talks, saying this would help enhance workers’ pay, benefits, and overall working conditions.
“Workers of this country have immensely contributed to building and improving our economy. I urge the government to start working on how to improve the minimum wage, and I also call on employers to ease negotiations on Collective Bargaining Agreements,” Atwoli said.
The unionist added that the government should begin planning early this year to ensure that terms and conditions for public service employees are improved before May.
Under the current wage framework, general workers in major cities such as Nairobi, Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru, and Eldoret earn a minimum of about Ksh 16,113 per month, while workers in smaller towns and rural areas earn lower rates of around Ksh 8,596.
Certain categories of workers, including cooks, night watchmen, and miners, have slightly higher minimum wages depending on their roles and work locations.
The current rates are guided by the Regulation of Wages (General) (Amendment) Order 2024, which sets the legal minimum across sectors.
In November 2024, the government implemented a 6 per cent increase in minimum wages, raising earnings for workers nationwide. This framework remains the reference point until a new wage order is published.
In a related incident, in December last year, Atwoli ordered private security companies to immediately comply with the Ksh 30,000 minimum wage directive.
Atwoli, in a notice dated December 9, revealed a widespread non-compliance of private security companies in Kenya, noting that out of the 2,000 registered private security firms, only 30 were tax compliant.
He noted that over 800 companies neither complied with the labour laws of the government for the minimum wages for workers nor paid taxes, while 800 others lacked physical business locations.
The COTU boss also raised concerns over the rampant redundancies of workers in the private security sector, further accusing the private security companies of frustrating their employees.
