By Jabali Media
President William Ruto has been urged to declare a wage increase for Kenyan workers, during the 60th Labour Day celebrations on May 01, 2025.
According to Chadwick Oloto, Kenya Hotels and Allied Workers Union (KHAWU) Nyanza branch secretary, Kenyan workers are living on the edge due to being paid low salaries that do not correspond with taxation and the high cost of living.
He said workers are expecting nothing short of a wage increase, when the President and Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU-K) Secretary General Francis Atwoli appear to address workers on Thursday.
“On behalf of workers in Nyanza, we request that the President declares a wage increase. Salaries are low, taxes are high to an extent that some workers feel like they are not working,” said Oloto.
Oloto stated that hotel workers are having a rough time, with some employers failing to pay their staff for up to three months.
He said most of them work under very difficult conditions, including not being given uniform and shoes, besides being barred from joining unions.
“Francis Atwoli, you have forgotten hotel workers. They are workers like any other, please help them,” he appealed to the COTU-K SG.
“You are the one who is supposed to help workers across the country. Workers in some sectors are suffering and they are really crying. Workers are requesting for a 40% wage increase. Some of them are earning as little as Sh10,000. What is Sh10,000 in today’s economy?”
During the 59th Labour Day celebration on May 01, 2025, President Ruto asked the Ministry of Labour to hold a meeting with the relevant labour relations committee so as to raise the minimum wage by at least 6 per cent.
This, he said, is part of the government’s initiative to uplift the welfare of workers.
“They will negotiate minimum wages in different sectors, enhancing conciliation, mediation and industrial peace,” he said.
However, according to Oloto, many workers across the country never received the increase.