Knut revenue drops as 25,675 teachers leave union
What you need to know:
- Labour laws demands for deduction of agency fee from wages of each non-unionisable teacher covered by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) who is a not a member of the union.
- Mr Sossion said there is a shortage of 87,489 teachers, with primary schools having a deficit of 39,913 and secondary schools 47,576.
Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has lost over 25,675 members in the last two years as well as recorded a decline in revenue, the National delegate’s conference was told on Thursday.
Knut national treasurer John Matiang’i said the union lost the members as result of retirement, natural attrition and validation.
Mr Matiang’ said the union membership now stands at 174,972, down from 197,555 last year and 200,645 in 2014.
The national treasurer added that the union’s annual revenue declined from Sh1.345 billion to Sh1.059, a drop of Sh287 million this year.
“We ask the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to ensure that members who left due to validation are returned to Knut,” said Mr Matiang’i.
He also asked the union’s 100 branches to only service teachers who are members of Knut.
Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion asked Labour Cabinet Secretary Phyllis Kandie to immediately gazette agency fee and avoid creating sideshows.
“We are aimed at enabling teachers to understand and appreciate the importance of being a member of the union,” said Mr Sossion.
Labour laws demands for deduction of agency fee from wages of each ununionsable teacher covered by the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) who is a not a member of the union.
There are over 50,000 teachers who are not members of the teachers union and each is required to pay two per cent of their basic salaries.
“It has come to our notice that some branches have tactfully kept their membership at around 900 while they have the potential to recruit well over 1,000 members,” said Mr Sossion.
He urged branch leaders to go out of their way to ensure that all teachers are recruited to the union noting that the national executive council is seriously concerned with declining union membership in many branches.
“We appreciate that we cannot achieve everything at once; this limb of our demand is one of our working stock at the moment. We are keen on closing on the gap between the highest and lowest paid teacher,” said Mr Sossion.
He urged TSC to implement the CBA in one single instalment.
Mr Sossion said there is a shortage of 87,489 teachers with primary schools having a deficit of 39,913 while secondary schools have 47,576 teachers less.
