Fresh Strike Looms as Teachers Demand Payment of New Salaries.
Learning in public schools could come to a halt if two major teachers’ unions follow through with their new strike threat. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) have declared their intention to strike due to the government’s failure to implement the expected salary increments this month. This situation threatens to disrupt the reopening of schools for the third term.
On Tuesday, Kuppet joined Knut in urging its members to boycott work when schools reopen. Kuppet announced plans to convene its National Governing Council (NGC) to discuss critical issues, including organizing a strike starting in September. In this plans, the union demanded that the government implement the second phase of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which was supposed to take effect in July.
“The union is mobilizing for a national strike from September to ensure the full implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA, the hiring of 20,000 new teachers, and the conversion of 46,000 intern teachers to permanent and pensionable positions,” Kuppet stated.
The union also criticized the continuous cuts to the education budget despite reports of wastage in government. Knut Secretary General Collins Oyuu emphasized that the CBA is a legally binding document signed between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Knut in 2021, and deposited in the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
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“There is no justification for the National Treasury, which is fully aware of the agreement, to backtrack on the CBA by failing to provide adequate funds to the TSC for its implementation,” said Mr. Oyuu last week.
The unions demanded the unconditional restoration of the Sh10 billion cut from the TSC budget, calling it a violation of the CBA and labeling the move illegal and immoral. “Teachers will not accept anything less than the second phase of the 2.5 percent to 9 percent salary increment as stipulated in the amended 2021-2025 CBA,” Oyuu stated.
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They urged the TSC to take all necessary measures to ensure the agreement is honored. If not, the unions will pursue all available legal avenues to ensure compliance. The unions highlighted that teachers received their July payments without the agreed-upon increment, which had been negotiated, signed, and deposited in the industrial and labor relations court.
Additionally, the government has reduced Free Day Secondary School (FDSE) capitation funds by 24 percent, from Sh22,244 per learner per year to Sh17,000, despite repeated calls from principals and other education stakeholders for an upward review of capitation to counter high inflation over the last seven years.
Kuppet accused the government of implementing the most significant rollback of social spending since independence, lamenting that the scale of cuts to the education budget is unprecedented. “Even the infamous Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs) imposed by the World Bank and the IMF in the mid-1980s did not result in cuts of this magnitude,” the union stated.
More concerning is the government’s reversal on its commitment to employ 20,000 new teachers and convert 46,000 intern teachers to permanent status.
Fresh Strike Looms as Teachers Demand Payment of New Salaries.
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