Teachers who participate in unprotected industrial unrests would now miss part of their pension upon retirement, Education News has established. At the same time, it has also emerged that the Commission may find it extremely hard to effect the law guarding against strikes/absence on duty as it has no established mechanism to monitor teachers who abscond duty in the name of strike. It’s said the Commission lacks a professionally managed system of setting up a data bank which would assist the Directorate of Pension to effect the penalties (pay-cuts) on teachers who engage in strikes that are not sanctioned in law. Talking to Education News moments before National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at Nairobi Railway Club a couple of days ago, the Secretary- General of Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), Akello Misori said for a very long time now, teachers in the Public Service have ignorantly participated in strikes without knowing whether they are protected or not. He said it’s time teachers’ unions secured each and every strike before calling on their members out of class if there is any industrial dispute that warrants labour unrest. The Secretary-General said with the invention of new data processing technology, TSC would soon start capturing data of every tutor and events, including unprotected strikes which are now common. The official was, however, quick to declare that in most strikes KUPPET secures the ‘job security’ of their members by ensuring that in the Return-to-Work Formula signed by both Government and union officials, there is a ‘clause’ which states among other things: “There shall be no victimization on either party, and no employee shall suffer loss of earning over the period of work stoppage.” Said Misori: “We also ensure that in the agreement between TSC and KUPPET, it’s clearly stated that nothing in the agreement or the enjoyment of remuneration of any allowance or benefit shall affect or in any way diminish the provisions of the Pensions Act – Cap 189 of Laws of Kenya.” The Secretary-General who was accompanied by the National Treasurer, Wicks Mwethi, said in the last Return-to- Work Agreement they signed with the Government on July 5th, 2013; it was agreed that there shall be no victimization of any member of KUPPET or any other teacher who complied with the Court Order and resumed duties in accordance with the Court Order of July 1st, 2013. “We further agreed that any salaries and allowances held and/or retained by the Commission on account of the industrial action shall be released forthwith to all members of the union and all teachers who have resumed duty. This is what we mean by protected strikes as the job security of our members is well secured,” explained Misori. Prior to signing Return-to-Work Agreement, the Commission had issued a circular copied to the Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of Education Science and Technology; Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of Labour Social Security and Services, Commissioner for Labour; Cabinet Secretary – Ministry of National Treasury and the Consultative Committee on Terms and Conditions of Service for Teachers stating that teachers would not be paid for the days they were out of duty stations, more so, the same directive was to affect their pension at the end of their service when they retire upon reaching the mandatory 60 years. The Chief Executive of Trade Unions Congress of Kenya (TUC-Ke), Njeru Kanyamba, admitted that on a number of occasions teachers in the Public Service have engaged in unprotected strikes without knowing the consequences that go with industrial unrests. He, however, pointed out that the Commission in its present state has no legally defined system that can fast-rack and effectively monitor striking teachers, their respective schools (stations), and the period of work stoppage. “The Commission has a herculean task to effect the law on strikes; for anything, the Return-to-Work Formula in most cases rubbishes the law, rendering it ineffective. TSC has no records of teachers who have gone on unprotected strikes since they joined service. Worse still, the Commission has no system in place to file returns to the Director of Pensions stating the number of days a teacher has been on strike during his/her period of service. “The law is in existence, but silent and difficult to execute. It is true there is protected and unprotected strikes. The law is there but not in practice (defector). The law guarding against strikes is difficult to administer/ implement as there is no system in verifying teachers on strike. “It is difficult to determine the number of teachers in a particular school who are on strike considering that some keep off school compounds because of the prevailing hostile environment. Before a teacher loses his/her benefits at pension time, it must be verified and established beyond doubt that he/she actually participated in the labour unrest,” said Kanyamba. The top union official, however, cautioned that teachers stand to lose huge retirement benefits once the Commission puts in place proper mechanisms that would assist in monitoring teachers’ absence on duty either through strikes, absconding duty, interdiction or any other cause of absence from work. The same would be communicated to the Director of Pensions upon the teacher’s retirement. He explained that the law is not exclusively meant for teachers. It applies to the entire Civil Service, including those who work for the Public Corporations, Commissions and other Government agencies. EN
Posted on: Tue, 16 Dec 2014 14:49:04 +0000
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