COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli Has Dismissed Claims That COTU Has Lost Over 2 Million Members.
Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU) Secretary General Francis Atwoli has dismissed claims that the workers union has lost over 2 million members as of April 6th.
Anthony Mutisya 
Atwoli has further dismissed a report by the ministry of Labor that said workers who are covered by Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) were at 16,100 in numbers saying that the move was political.
We call upon the government institutions mandated to collect and analyse data to always strive to give a correct picture of the situation as it is. It is an error of monumental proportions for the Ministry of Labour to claim that only 16,100 Kenyan workers benefit from CBAs. pic.twitter.com/F8Vibpx5mm
— Francis Atwoli NOM (DZA), CBS, EBS, MBS. (@AtwoliDza) April 6, 2022
The COTU boss said that the findings of the economic performance study submitted to the General Wages Advisory Council (GWAC) and the Agricultural Wages Advisory Council (AWAC) in the Economic Position Paper were based on inaccurate and doctored data.
“In the said politically motivated analysis, the ministry claimed that the employees covered steadily declined from 367,000 in 2016 to 16,100 in 2020. This is purely 2022 elections' politics Taylor-made to incite our members," Read part of the statement.
According to Atwoli’s analysis of the members, the number of workers covered by COTU is 2.3 million, with another 2 million receiving indirect benefits. The withholding of this information, he said, was an indictment on Kenyan workers and the labor movement.
"There are currently2,356,406 working Kenyans who are covered by CBAs as negotiated by the various unions under the COTU (K) umbrella while more than two million Kenyan workers benefit from the agreements indirectly," Atwoli stated.
COTU SG Francis Atwoli at a past event
While conceding that the epidemic that struck the country in 2020 may have had an impact on the union's membership, the statistics have improved since the government eased containment restrictions.
He claimed the data was intentionally misleading because it came at a time when the union was planning to negotiate for a minimum wage increase in preparation for Labor Day celebrations on May 1.
"Guided by research that indicates a rise in economic performance but equally a rise in inflation which has eroded the purchasing power of Kenyan workers, we will ensure that Kenyan workers get what they deserve during the negotiations,” he stated.
The outspoken trade unionist accused the Ministry of Labor of using it as part of a scheme to thwart COTU's plans, including its reluctance to gazette the union's nomination to the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) Board of Trustees.
