Teachers flex muscle in defiance of court order to return to work

Teachers Monday vowed to continue with a week-long strike despite a court order directing them to go back to class in what has turned out to be a show of might anchored on their huge numbers.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) chairman Wilson Sossion told the Business Daily that the strike, which has paralysed the country’s public school system, could not be brought to an end through institutional orders but by the government meeting the teachers’ demands.

Mr Sossion spoke moments after Industrial Court judge Linnet Ndolo directed all teachers to resume work this morning at 9 as the government and their union resolve the matter.

“The teachers are directed to report back to work by 8.00 am Tuesday, July 2, 2013. Any strike beyond this time shall be unprotected and illegal,” ruled Justice Ndolo. But Mr Sossion insisted that the teachers have a constitutional right to strike that cannot be varied – expressly defying the directive.

“Let us not engage in academic exercise. The strike is not with us, it is with the teachers. We will go back to class once the government meets our demand,” said Mr Sossion, in response to a question as to whether the union would defy the court of law even as it relies on an agreement anchored in law.

The Industrial Court ruling opens a new chapter in the strike that is in its second week as it gives Kenyans a chance to test the willingness by all citizens to accept the rule of law under a new constitutional dispensation.

Knut’s response to the court order risks setting a precedent in which powerful interest groups can use their muscles to pursue their goals in complete disregard of the law.

Knut is Kenya’s most powerful trade union, whose size alone makes it nearly impossible for law enforcement agencies to effectively execute court orders. The more than 240,000 teachers are expected to stage demonstrations in towns across the country giving the security agencies a tough assignment.

Speaking hours after the court ruling, Deputy President William Ruto appealed to the teachers to obey the court order and get down to negotiating with the government.

Mr Sossion immediately dismissed his effort as inconsequential insisting that the strike would continue.

“We don’t take instructions from deputy president, our stand remains the same. The strike continues,” he said.

Justice Ndolo directed the two teachers’ unions, Knut and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), to immediately start negotiations with the government and end the impasse.

Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi, who has had a spat with the teachers over his decision to declare the strike illegal, is expected to convene the meeting with the unions.
Mr Sossion, however, insisted that there would be no negotiations with the government, arguing that there is an agreement pending implementation.

Mr Ruto called on union officials to open negotiations with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), even as he restated the government’s position on the laptop project whose budget the teachers want redirected to pay their salaries.

The deputy president said the laptop projected would be implemented in three phases, starting with a Sh15 billion allocation this year and not Sh53 billion as some reports have indicated. Teachers are seeking Sh47 billion to meet their demands.

Mr Ruto said 12,000 schools will be connected to electricity grid under the project at accost of Sh12 billion.

Education Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi restated the government’s insistence that teachers will not be paid their June salaries until they resume work -- a move likely to complicate the negotiations.

“Teachers must go back to class, unless they go back to class there will be no pay,” said Prof Kaimenyi.

The pay dispute dates back 16 years when a teachers’ strike culminated in the signing of an agreement and a Legal Notice 534 of 1997, whose implementation is at the core of the current dispute.

The deal offered teachers a salary increment of between 105 and 200 per cent and huge increments in house, medical, responsibility, special, hardship and commuter allowances.

Under the agreement, teachers are entitled to a house allowance equivalent to 50 per cent of their basic pay, medical allowance (20 per cent), responsibility allowance (45 per cent), special (10 per cent), hardship (30 per cent) and automatic commuter allowance (10 per cent).