This archive report was first published on 3 October 2019.
On October 3, 2019, Simba Apparel EPZ Ltd in Mombasa made the decision to close down its factory, leaving almost 2,000 workers without jobs.
The company's management cited a lack of a conducive business environment as the reason for the closure, claiming they were tired of illegal strikes by the workers due to internal fighting within the workers' union.
According to Thomas Pathoor, the company's managing director, the decision to close down the factory was made after a lengthy meeting with their lawyers.
Pathoor accused the workers of refusing to follow the laid down procedures to call for a strike, despite having a collective bargaining agreement with the union.
He also claimed that the county labour officer had made several attempts to engage the workers on the issue of illegal strikes, but they had turned a deaf ear.
Pathoor defended the company's decision, stating that they were faced with internal wrangles between shop stewards of the union, which had backing from local politicians.
