Knut, Kuppet oppose fresh listing of teachers

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) is set to clash with unions once again after it ordered for new validation of membership less than three years after conducting a similar exercise.

It will take the more than 313,000 teachers three months to complete the exercise, which started on Monday across the country.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) on Friday rejected the exercise, terming it a scheme by TSC to cripple the unions and insisted that it is not in labour laws.

TSC chief executive Nancy Macharia, in a letter to county directors and copied to the unions dated May 10, said the T-pay system will enhance management and real time capture of data by the respective unions and that the module was rolled out on May 16.

Mrs Macharia said that previously the commission captured union data from forms (submitted) and filed in the teachers’ personal files.

PROCEDURE

With automation, she said subscription will be done through T-pay. “Though union subscription is through T-pay, the teacher will still complete and submit duly authorised forms for filing in the personal file at the TSC headquarters as per the laid out procedures,” Mrs Macharia said.

In the new system, teachers will initiate the process and send their payslip numbers to preferred union.

“Following rollout of the union’s module, the commission would wish to validate the teachers who are currently subscribed to reaffirm their union membership. The membership validation will be open for three months from this date, June 10,” she said.

She went on: “For one to validate, he or she will be expected to log in the online T-pay system and confirm union membership and tick the box against the record to approve the subscription.”

MEMBERS

Mrs Macharia said to avert impersonation, teachers will be expected to upload their photo passport, email and phone numbers; and the information will be validated by the institution's heads.

“All teachers are expected to comply and validate their union membership within the three-month window provided.” The 2016 validation saw the unions lose a good number of their members.

Knut and Kuppet said that the TSC is taking over the mandate of the registrar of trade unions. “It is not the work of the employer to determine where a member should be...Why validate unions every now and then?” Knut secretary-general Wilson Sossion said from Geneva, Switzerland, where he is attending an International Labour Organisation conference.

Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba, also speaking from Geneva, said the union will call its national executive council to advise their members not to register afresh.

“This is a deliberate attempt to kill teachers’ unions. The new system was for third parties such as saccos and banks, not unions,” he said.