The Nation Media Group (NMG) has found itself on the wrong side of the law after announcing that it was going to fire some of its employees in January 2017.
The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) moved to court to block NMG's plan stating that it was an illegal move.
Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, an official at KUJ noted that the media company had a pending case regarding a disputed Collective Bargaining Agreement, adding that sacking of the employees would be unfair.
"There is already a vacuum in the Collective Bargaining Agreement pending in this court and we are asking for an injunction," the application reads in part.
Through lawyer Stephen Ogeto, KUJ has also sued Standard Media Group. According to the court case, the two media houses had failed to agree with KUJ which has been seeking a 10 percent salary raise for its members for a while now.
The companies had instead proposed a six percent increase, a suggestion KUJ did not agree to.
The Union's Secretary General Erick Oduor divulged that NMG's planned layoff would be unfair and illegal.
In December, NMG announced a downsizing in their workforce that will take effect as of January 2017.
In a press statement, the media house noted that following a new strategy the company has been progressively adopting, duties would become redundant hence retrenching some employees was the only option.
"Early this year we embarked on a new strategic journey of transforming the Group into a modern Twenty-First Century digital content company. Regrettably, this will result in a reduction of our workforce through job redundancies," the presser read in part.
An inside source at the company divulged to Kenyans.co.ke that over 40 employees would face the sack. According to our source, the affected employees were still not aware of their fate.
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