Atwoli now goes for employers for failure to implement Ruto minimum wage order
Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli on April 5, 2025 during the union's Stewards Meeting held at Solidarity House, Nairobi.
Francis Atwoli, the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya) Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, has asked the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE) to implement a presidential directive on minimum wage increment, describing the employer’s body as a stumbling block to workers’ welfare.
During the 2024 Labour Day celebrations, President William Ruto announced a six percent increase in the minimum wage to help workers live decently.
Dr Ruto further tasked then Labour Cabinet Secretary Florence Bore to sit with the relevant committee and ensure the minimum wage is up by at least 6 percent.
Mr Atwoli says that it took four months of negotiations for FKE to sign the agreement, and even after that, it is yet to be implemented.
“The President gave us a salary increase, but FKE has been dragging us around... It's like they’re taking us in circles—we don’t even know what kind of dance they’re making us do. They want us to keep going back to meetings and talks, even after the President himself made the declaration and involved all stakeholders, “Mr Atwoli said during a shop stewards’ meeting in Nairobi.
With a new Labour Day approaching, union leaders are pushing for a 24 percent increase in the minimum wage, citing inflation, tax burden, and stagnant pay for low-income earners.
But tensions with FKE appear to be escalating again.
“When we begin planning how workers can finally get better pay, FKE is out holding press conferences claiming the economy can’t support a raise, that industries are relocating… all to scare the government into silence,” Mr Atwoli said.
Labour leaders are now questioning whether FKE should be given a platform on Labour Day if it continues to oppose workers’ demands.
“We told them—speak your policies for the workers. Labour Day is the right time for that. But she’s troubling us over something the President already said. Can we really allow someone to speak on that day if every time we win something, they are the first to block it?” said Atwoli.
Cotu has also rejected the narrative that wage increases will drive businesses out of Kenya, arguing that the country remains a strategic economic hub.
“Not all companies have left. Kenya is a regional giant—Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, they all want a piece of us. Industries can’t just pack up and go. We have everything here.”
The minimum wage is the least amount of remuneration that an employer is required to pay employees for the work performed during a given period, which cannot be reduced by a collective agreement or an individual contract.
The last minimum wage increase happened on May 1, 2022 during former President Uhuru Kenyatta's last Labour Day celebrations as Head of State.
The 12 percent increase translated to Sh1,628.64, increasing workers’ minimum pay to at least Sh15,200.64.
Further, Mr Atwoli called on the government to regulate social media use countrywide to tackle the growing misuse of digital platforms.
Mr Atwoli explained that the lack of laws limiting social media and Artificial Intelligence (AI) access promotes its misuse.
The Cotu boss said that a lack of regulation could lead to mass exits by employers and investors, leading to an economic downturn.
"If you leave this country, where else will you go? We plead with our social media users, please stop the propaganda. You must love this country or else employers will exit. If this happens, we will be similar to either Sudan or Congo. A country such as Somalia has not had a well-organised government for years,” he said.
"This forces us to urge the government to regulate social media. Something must be done and the time to do it is now. Engage leaders on issues, not on hate."