This archive report was first published on 23 June 2020.
On June 21, 2020, Tuskys Supermarkets informed the Labour ministry of its intention to declare 80 workers redundant due to reduced business caused by COVID-19 measures.
The Kenya Union of Commercial Foods and Allied Workers, however, petitioned the court to stop the redundancies, arguing that the retailer was increasing its reliance on outsourced staff while laying off regular employees.
According to the union's secretary-general, Boniface Kavuvi, the retailer cannot be allowed to declare redundancies when retaining a large number of outsourced labor, as this means that regular employees who are union members are not wanted.
The High Court will issue orders on the layoff plan pending the conclusion of the suit, which comes at a time when the Competition Authority of Kenya has ordered Tuskys to settle supplier debts amounting to Sh1.29 billion by July 16.
As part of its efforts to cope with the pandemic, Tuskys had closed four branches in April due to low customer numbers.
