finally Teachers Service Commission and unions meet over salaries

Teachers and their employer are this week set to start negotiations for a collective bargaining agreement that has been elusive for the last three years.

The meeting between the Teachers Service Commission, Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers is set to be held on Friday.

A May 30 letter from commission chief executive Nancy Macharia and addressed to the unions says the meeting will discuss the contentious teachers’ performance appraisal, salaries and union membership validation.

“The commission is ready to have a meeting with you starting 10 am at our headquarters,” said Mrs Macharia.

Both unions have expressed their desire to have the talks concluded, after analysing a proposal submitted to them last week.

“We are ready and prepared for the talks and hope that we will get the best outcome,” said Kuppet Chairman Omboko Milemba.

Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion said the agreement will outline the benefits that have been awarded to teachers between 2013 and 2017, before starting talks on the new agreement which will require the input of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.

He has since called on the salaries team to release its findings on the job evaluation for teachers so that it can use the report in the negotiations.

But an eight-member team from Knut that has been analysing a proposal from the teachers ‘ commission has said the union will accept any percentage increase.

ANALYSING PROPOSAL
Kuppet is yet to make its demand known as it has been “guarding” information coming from the meetings analysing the proposal.

The government is keen to have the talks concluded as it targets the 298,000 teachers across the country as voters ahead of next year’s General Election.

In the current proposal, the teachers’ commission has offered a zero per cent increase in basic salary and proposed that the basic salary component be factored into the 2017-2021 talks which will begin once they have signed the current agreement.

Teachers went on strike on two occasions last year to push for the increase and President Uhuru Kenyatta brokered a deal between the unions and their employer in November to go back to the negotiating table.

It was also agreed that all parties withdraw all the cases related to the dispute that were pending in courts to enable those involved to come up with a four-year collective bargaining agreement.

However, this was to be done in full recognition of the binding advisory by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on the salaries and remuneration of teachers.
It was also agreed that there must be full recognition of a basic point: Equal pay for equal work.