Teachers union rejects government’s new pay deal offer

Teachers have rejected new terms of service offered by the government and vowed to press on with the nationwide strike that threatens the registration of candidates sitting their national examinations next year.

Wilson Sossion, the chairman of the over the 200,000-member Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), said the union had turned down calls for a meeting by the government to discuss a new pay deal.

“The government Tuesday called us for a meeting to offer us a new CBA but we refused. Getting to the table to discuss a new CBA would be tantamount to throwing the existing one out of the window. We cannot accept that and demand our rightful dues from the current CBA,” Mr Sossion told the Business Daily.

The Kenya Post-Primary Education Teachers Union (Kuppet), however, attended the meeting with officials of the Education ministry and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

The meeting, where details of the offer were to be discussed, had not ended as we went to press.

Knut’s resistance came as the Labour ministry disowned Legal Notice 534 of 1997 that would have seen teachers earn allowances equivalent to 80 per cent of their basic pay.

“Knut does not have a case and I would advise them to get a collective bargaining agreement. Going to the streets does not solve the issue but coming to the (negotiation) table solves almost all the issues,” Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi told a news conference.

Labour Commissioner Sammy Nyambari said the CBA was not registered with the Industrial Court, hence was null and void, and urged Knut to commence fresh negotiations with the government.

He said that the notice, which has formed the basis for seven strikes over the last 16 years, had not been procedurally filed.

Article 59, sub section 5 of the Labour Relations Act states that a collective agreement becomes enforceable and is implemented upon registration by the Industrial Court “effective from the date agreed upon by the parties.”

Mr Kambi said teachers were holding the government to ransom over a gazette notice that “can be varied by anyone at any time.”

CBAs allow workers and managers to discuss issues and settle disputes through consensus and dialogue.

The Industrial Court has jurisdiction to arbitrate and register CBAs negotiated between employers’ and workers’ representatives in order to improve terms and conditions of employment.

The fresh row between Knut and the government came as learning was paralysed countrywide after teachers opted to stay out of the classrooms.

READ: Learning disrupted as teachers' strike begins

“The strike has realised an overwhelming success rate and we will not cower in demanding our rights,” Mr Sossion said.

Thousands of secondary school teachers began strike action last week. The decision by Knut spread the industrial action to include primary schools.

Form Three and Standard Seven students who will sit their national examinations next year are registering for the tests under new rules meant to curb cheating.

School calendar

Disrupting the school calendar after it was left in disarray by last year’s strike would delay the registration, mock examinations for this year’s candidates and syllabus coverage for all classes.

Knut is demanding that its members be paid a housing allowance equivalent to 50 per cent of basic pay, medical allowance at 20 per cent and commuter allowance at 10 per cent before it could call off the strike. Effecting the demand would cost the government Sh47 billion annually. The CBA was signed in 1997.

The government says the teachers’ demands are unsustainable.

The government plans to cut a public sector wage bill that is now 50 per cent of the annual tax revenue, while the International Monetary Fund (IMF) puts the global benchmark at about 35 per cent.

Last year, the government was forced to pay out Sh13.5billion after a 24-day strike to increase salaries, commuter and hardship allowances back-dated to July 2012.

With that deal, the lowest paid teacher now takes home a basic salary of Sh19, 323 up from Sh13, 750 while the highest paid earns Sh144, 928 up from Sh120, 270.