Teachers leave pay raise talks empty-handed

Teachers on Friday evening walked out of pay talks with the government with nothing much but said they would not disrupt national exams with a strike.

The government only promised to elongate job groups from S to T for the highest paid teacher and pledged to provide in-service training.

There was no commitment on the key items of salaries or allowances demanded by the unions.

Immediately after the talks, Kuppet deputy secretary-general Moses N’thurima threatened to go to court to compel the government to give clear timelines on when it would act on their demands.

NEXT YEAR

The proposal by the government seen by the Nation did not appear to amount to much. 

The unions which, among other demands, wanted a pay increase of between 180 and 200 per cent were told: “The basic salary of teachers was harmonised with that of other civil servants and any review will be undertaken on the advice of Salaries and Remuneration Commission.”

They were also told that any salary review would be undertaken in the “context of the Medium Term Budgeting Plan”, meaning the earliest they can expect a raise would be next year.

The absence of Teachers Service Commission boss Gabriel Lengoiboni, who was out of the country, angered union officials who accused the government of sending “junior officers”.

A senior Treasury official said the government delegation emphasised there was no budget for the teachers’ demands.