Union opposes TSC bid to digitise payslips

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Secreatary General Akelo Misori(right) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers Chairman Omboko Milemba addressing journalists in Nairobi on September 17,2015 where they said that they have petitioned parliament through the speaker to convene and Consider budget review.EVANS HABIL(NAIROBI)

What you need to know:

  • Mr Misori said Kuppet has already engaged TSC on the matter with a view of arriving at an amicable solution.

A teachers’ union has opposed a new move by the Teachers Service Commission to digitise the issuing of payslips.

Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Secretary-General Akelo Misori on Monday said the union is uncomfortable with the decision because it would make it hard for them to register new members.

He said they are concerned about parts of a questionnaire sent to individual teachers requiring them to, among other things, confirm if they are unionised.

The TSC issued the order last month instructing all teachers to register online to access their payslips.

“This may be TSC’s new scheme to deny us an opportunity to register new members. We will not allow them to control membership of the teachers’ unions. Members’ loyalty to respective unions cannot be controlled by the commission,” he told the Nation.

Mr Misori said Kuppet has already engaged the TSC on the matter with a view to arriving at an amicable solution.

The TSC has been sending hard copies of the payslips to teachers through education offices, where they are collected by school heads.

But in a notice sent two months ago, the teachers’ employer indicated that effective May 2016, teachers would no longer get the hard copies.

The teachers were directed to complete a form online by April 18, 2016.

However, Mr Misori said they are afraid that the commission may be up to mischief.

A survey by the Nation indicated that a good number of teachers who filled the form denounced their membership with unions, a move that paints a bleak future for both Kuppet and the Kenya National Union of Teachers.