We will not sign CBA unless we get 50-60pc pay rise, Knut warns

Knut chairman Mudzo Nzili (left) with the union's secretary-general Wilson Sossion and other leaders at TSC offices in Nairobi on January 15, 2016. PHOTO | JAMES EKWAM | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Knut and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have until February 18 to sign the deal with the Teachers Service Commission.
  • Mr Sossion insisted that the government must invest in teachers so that public education can deliver quality education and have motivated teachers.

  • Despite getting Sh9.3 billion to settle teachers’ house, hardship and leave allowances, union leaders have in the past declined to sign a CBA, insisting that the salary component must be included in any deal.

The Kenya National Union Teachers (Knut) has said it will not sign a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) unless it gets a 50-60 per cent salary increase.

Knut and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) have until February 18 to sign the deal with the Teachers Service Commission.

“We still insist that the increase should be implemented and there should be no time wasting on negotiation. Anything short of that shall not be acceptable,” said Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion in an interview.

Mr Sossion insisted that the government must invest in teachers so that public education can deliver quality education and have motivated teachers.

“Quality education cannot be delivered through underpaid, demotivated and frustrated teachers,” said Mr Sossion.

He insisted the Jubilee administration must respect teachers and through the TSC deliver an acceptable CBA.

He maintained that the teachers' strike that was suspended by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in September last year for 90 days was still valid.

“Our strike is still valid but we are not jumping immediately to the strike. We are giving this process a chance,” said Mr Sossion.

STATUTORY BODY

He questioned the creation of another team to look at the salaries, saying the TSC already has a committee responsible for terms and conditions of service and that it is the statutory body mandated to negotiate teachers' salaries.

Despite getting Sh9.3 billion to settle teachers’ house, hardship and leave allowances, union leaders have in the past declined to sign a CBA, insisting that the salary component must be included in any deal.

This month, Knut sought the intervention of Chief Justice Willy Mutunga to help hasten their case with the TSC over salary increase.

In November, President Uhuru Kenyatta brokered a deal between the unions and their employer, who were to go back to the negotiating table and sign a CBA within a month.

It was also agreed that all parties withdraw all pending court cases related to the dispute so as to allow those involved to come up with a four-year collective bargaining agreement.

However, this was to happen with full recognition of the binding advisory role of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission on teachers' pay and allowances.

It was also agreed that there must be full recognition of a basic point: equal pay for equal work. 

But Knut filed an appeal in the Supreme Court, calling the move a “cautionary measure”, in case the TSC continues delaying negotiations on a new CBA.

On November 6, teachers lost the 50-60 per cent pay increase that the labour court had awarded them on June 30.

In nullifying the award, five Court of Appeal judges said the labour court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter.