STORY: Kenya marks Int'l Labor Day with pledge to improve workers' welfare
SHOOTING TIME: May 1, 2024
DATELINE: May 2, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:48
LOCATION: Nairobi
CATEGORY: POLITICS/SOCIETY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of the celebrations
2. SOUNDBITE (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
3. various of the celebrations

STORYLINE:

Kenya marked this year's International Labor Day on Wednesday with President William Ruto renewing a pledge to improve the welfare of workers through skills upgrading, legal protection, and better remuneration.
   
Speaking during the Labor Day celebrations in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, Ruto said the government is committed to incentivizing workers in the public and private sectors to achieve people-centered economic transformation.
   
Ruto announced the formation of a task force to explore modalities of increasing the minimum wage by 6 percent to protect workers from inflationary pressures and ensure they have disposable income.
   
He added that the government has enacted the 2024 Social Protection Bill, the key objective of which is to protect workers from rights violations and ensure they have access to basic amenities such as health and shelter.
   
Kenya has signed bilateral labor agreements with several countries to facilitate the deployment of about 250,000 workers abroad and raise remittances from the current 4 billion to 10 billion U.S. dollars, Ruto said.
  
SOUNDBITE (English): WILLIAM RUTO, Kenyan President
"We have been intentional on creating additional opportunities for young people in Kenya to work. It is also the reason why we are reorganizing labor migration, why we are signing bilateral labor agreements, because it is my intention that every year we should be able to send 250,000 Kenyans to work in different parts of the world, so that we can enhance and we can increase the number of people who are working abroad and also enhance our remittances from abroad."

He observed that the launch of digital hubs countrywide has unleashed new revenue streams for local youth, adding that ongoing implementation of the affordable housing program has also created thousands of new jobs.
   
Florence Bore, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection, said the government has borrowed from international best practices to promote the rights and privileges entitled to all employees in the public and public sectors.
   
Bore said the government will leverage continuous training and mentorship, enhance workplace safety, and align salaries with evolving economic dynamics to boost the productivity of local workers.

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Nairobi.
(XHTV)