The new academic year scheduled to start on July 26 could be disrupted after teachers’ unions threatened a strike to press for a pay rise.
This, after six-hour talks between the unions and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) collapsed yesterday. TSC reportedly failed to present a proposal to increase teachers’ salaries.
TSC had invited officials of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education teachers (Kusnet) for talks on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the next five years.
However, after the meeting, it emerged that TSC’s counter-offer excluded a pay rise, apparently in compliance with a recent Salaries and Remuneration Commission directive freezing salary increment for two years.
Instead, TSC offered fringe benefits such as improved maternity and paternity leave. The unions rejected the offer after the meeting that began at 10am and ended at 4pm. They vowed not to allow the TSC to use SRC directives to deny teachers a pay rise.
“They have not offered anything. We have, therefore, given TSC seven days to give us a counter-offer; failure to that, we will ask teachers not to report to schools for the First Term that is beginning in August,” Kuppet secretary general Akelo Misori told the Nation.
Mr Misori said everything that happened yesterday indicates that the TSC has been working in cahoots with the SRC to frustrate teachers’ demands for a salary review. He said TSC cannot use the Covid-19 pandemic and the advisory they got from the SRC as an excuse to give teachers a “non-monetary counter offer”.
Non-monetary counter-offer
“Kuppet cannot sign a CBA with no monetary benefits given the wide disparities in remuneration across cadres in the expiring 2016-2021 CBA coupled with the sharp inflation in the country. This is the time to review teachers’ salaries,” he said, adding, TSC has been acting in bad faith and had waited until the last minute to offer them nothing.
“The timing of the offer was designed to present the union with fait accompli, to create a vacuum in the teaching profession but we will not fall for it,” he added.
Mr Misori said that, by offering nothing, TSC has ignored the plight of teachers who are front-line workers in the fight against Covid 19 and have borne a heavy economic impact.
Newly elected secretary general Collins Oyuu said his union, Knut, was also disappointed by the TSC’s non-monetary counter-offer.
“The proposals were strong on maternity and paternity leave, but will this bring food on the table? We came out with nothing in terms of pay and I cannot be crucified by members with just two days in office,” said Mr Oyuu.
Mr Oyuu, however, said Knut was happy to have been invited for the negotiations. On the bad relationship between TSC and Knut, Mr Oyuu said they have agreed to improve industrial relations.
Kusnet secretary general James Torome said they did not agree with the TSC as whatever was presented does not give teachers a salary increment.
Maternity and paternity leave
“We are not opposed to the maternity, paternity and pre-adoptive offers, but we have asked the TSC to give us a serious counter offer,” said Mr Torome.
In the proposal presented by TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia, the commission offered to grant female teachers maternity leave of 120 days up from the current 90 days with full salary with effect from the date of delivery
Male teachers’ paternity leave has been increased from 14 days to 21 days. The commission has also offered to grant teachers a pre-adoptive leave of 45 days from the date of adoption.
Mrs Macharia said the new leave is provided in new Employment Act for a minimum of 30 days. Mrs Macharia said the commission has agreed to consider requests for transfer for couples who are both teachers subject to availability of vacancies among other requirements.
The proposals say transfers are aimed at promoting family values. The TSC has also offered to progressively promote teachers serving in arid and semi-arid lands (Asal) and hardship areas but who are already in administrative positions.
“The teachers will be retained in their current stations until attainment of the substantive grade,” reads the document.
The Asal areas are listed to be in parts of Baringo, Garrisa, Homabay, Isiolo, Kajiado, Kwale, Kilifi, Lamu, Mandera, Marsabit, Kitui, Narok, Samburu, Taita Taveta, Tana River, Turkana, Wajir and West Pokot counties.
