Teachers to Have Pay Rise Before End of July as TSC and KNUT Meet

Teachers Service Commission, TSC and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) are working to reach an agreement by the end of July by examining the non-monetary Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) to create room for compensation increases.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general Collins Oyuu said the union and TSC will retreat to Naivasha this week to discuss an education committee report and teachers’ professional development training, among other issues affecting members.

According to Mr Oyuu, the meeting will start on 5^th July evening and end on 8^th July. He said they are hoping to restart discussions on reviewing the 2021-25 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that did not give teachers a pay increase.

In the CBA, they increased maternity days for female teachers from 90 to 120. The CBA also allows male teachers to go on paternity leave and to promote teachers in arid and semi-arid areas. This left other teachers without a pay increase for five years, from 2021 to 2025

Mr Oyuu said they had recruited 100,000 new members in one year since his team took over, increasing membership to 115,000, up from the 15,000 he found at the time of his election on 26th June last year.

ALSO READ: Sub-Saharan Economy To Grow 3.7% In 2022, A Dip From 2021

The number was down from the 187,000 Knut had a few years ago. “When I came in as secretary general, Knut was facing many challenges ranging from low membership, financial starvation, to a bad blood that had been created and existed with the TSC,” he told Sunday Nation

Currently, all of KNUT’s 110 branches are fully functional. All employees are receiving their salaries without fail, staff medical cover has been restored, and the union is progressively paying the arrears it had accumulated over two years before he took over.

Due to the union’s financial crisis, several branch offices were closed, and office equipment such as chairs, desks and computers were auctioned. A union bus was auctioned in one branch. The head office was also subject to auction, with some furniture taken away over debt

“Every month, we are paying up to Sh14 million to repay the Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA), pensions and other arrears owed by the union.”

The new leadership had revealed that the union owed KRA over Sh301 million at the time of taking over. It also owed millions to other creditors. He said all retirees from the union have received their pensions, and other debts are being cleared.

However, his leadership has not gone without criticism. A section of teachers has accused Mr Oyuu and other officials of compromising the union’s stand to please the employer.

The Kenya National Teachers Pressure Group (KNTPG) says Knut is no longer interested in issues affecting teachers, accusing its officials of ganging up with the TSC to oppress teachers.