The strike by over 300 workers of Vegetable Production Kenya Limited (VEPRO) farm in South Lake area in Naivasha entered its second day  as the workers protested against low wages and what they termed as poor working conditions at the farm.

The angry workers today barricaded the Naivasha –Kongoni road and  anti-riot police officers had to be called in to quell  the situation.

However, everything was back to normal as a return to work formula was reached this afternoon after intense negotiations between the management.

They accused the farm management of failing to implement an 11 percent increment on their salaries which was agreed upon between the management and the Kenya Plantation and Allied Workers` Union (KPWU) last month.

Naivasha District Labour Officer, Elizabeth Kamau and her Deputy; Francisca Kamau yesterday  held  a day long closed door meeting with the management and workers representatives in order to try and resolve the issue.

Following the two- day strike thousands of tones of vegetables meant for export went to waste making the farm to incur huge loses.

Ms. Kamau told KNA that some of the grievances were genuine and she will follow up to ensure that they were addressed.

But she said the complains about the wages was not genuine as the workers were already being paid more than the recommended wage for the workers in the agricultural sector.

The workers complained that the wages were low and working conditions poor and called on the Ministry of Labour to intervene. They said they did not have protective gears while handling chemicals, among other issues.

The Kenya Plantations and Allied Workers Union branch secretary-general Peter Otieno said the salary agreement was supposed to be backdated to August 2009 and wondered and accused the management of developing cold feet after the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) had been signed.