Teachers Reject Salary Increment Proposed By TSC, They Want 70%

On Tuesday, 22 August, the Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) and the unions for primary and post-primary teachers, KNUT and KUPPET, re-open the meeting to discuss the salary review for teachers, KUPPET demanded a 30 percent salary increase across the board.

According to KUPPET, 30 percent raise would cushion teachers against the rising cost of living. KUPPET also pointed out that the government awarded higher salary increases to other civil servants, such as doctors and nurses.

KUPETT Secretary General Akello Misori slammed KNUT for accepting the offer, which he argued was equal to betraying the teaching fraternity as the TSC proposal was still unclear.

“We are not being told the truth about the salary increment because the proposal that SRC tabled is completely different from what TSC offered.

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“At the same time, the President has been talking about a different offer altogether. It is hard to negotiate with people who treat us with contempt and bad faith,” Misori lamented.

Last month, the SRC reviewed salaries awarding those in the public service pay rises of between 7 percent and 10 percent.

The meeting’s outcome however fell short of the SRC’s recommendation, much to the disappointment of the teachers union, particularly the post-primary teachers union, KUPPET.

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“We were expecting not less than that, even though we had our ambitious expectation and what our teachers expected out there for KUPPET between 30 and 70 percent…so when the figures turned out to be between 9 and 2.5 percent, we realized that maybe it was the President lying to us or the SRC lying to us or TSC is not being genuine.” KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori said

KNUT, who initially demanded an over 60 percent increment, backed down after meeting officials from the TSC and grudgingly accepted the offer.  Oyuu argued that TSC had acknowledged the challenges facing teachers. However, the commission claimed it could not increase salaries as it was financially constrained.

“The 2.4 percent to 9.5 percent is welcomed by the Kenya National Union of Teachers. There is nothing that has been reduced since the 2.4 percent will be going to the highest earner and 9.5 percent to the lowest earner,” Oyuu confirmed.

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KNUT’s boss defended TSC and President William Ruto’s government, noting that the State has been very considerate in preparing and availing the salary increments. Oyuu called on their KUPPET counterparts to embrace talks and accept the proposed salary increment by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, led by Lyn Mengich.

“I don’t think it is right to claim that the Teachers Service Commission has deducted some money that belongs to the teachers. That is not true,” Oyuu countered KUPPET.

The proposal from the TSC, if accepted by both KNUT and KUPPET, would see the lowest-earning teachers get a pay hike of 9 percent, while the highest-earning teachers would get a hike of 2.5 percent.

KNUT’s boss insists that it will take the offer to its members, stating that although it is lower than what was expected, it addresses the balance between the highest and lowest earning of its members.

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