Teachers' pay proposals are spelt out
What you need to know:
- It is understood that the government had made significant cash proposals.
- The meeting was held at TSC headquarters and was convened under the auspices of the Committee on Terms and Conditions of Service.
The government moved to avert a teachers’ strike planned for this month when it tabled new salary proposals to unions on Tuesday.
Sources at the meeting, which was closed to journalists, indicated that the unions agreed to go and study the counterproposals and respond at another meeting scheduled for next Tuesday.
Although details were scant, as the negotiating teams swore not to reveal the information, it is understood that the government had made significant cash proposals in response to the demands by the teachers unions.
The meeting was held at TSC headquarters and was convened under the auspices of the Committee on Terms and Conditions of Service, which is a statutory body mandated to negotiate salaries for teachers and is chaired by Mr Joseph Obonyo.
SPECIAL NEEDS
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) had, among others, demanded new allowances for teachers working in urban areas, arguing they needed to be cushioned against the high cost of living in cities.
The union had demanded a special allowance of 30 per cent of their basic salaries for those working in Nairobi, 20 per cent in Mombasa and Kisumu, 10 per cent for municipal residents and five per cent for the rest.
Knut is also seeking 50 per cent of the basic salary for teachers handling children with special needs and responsibility allowance, which should be based on the position of a teacher.
