The Kenya National Union of Teachers ( Knut) has asked the Government to conclude the ongoing negotiations on their basic salaries by Tuesday next week. Failure to which, they will down tools to demand for the approval of their new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion, said the Government has been using delaying tactics not to approve the new CBA that has the needed reviews on teachers’ basic salaries and house allowances. Speaking yesterday in Eldoret during the World Teachers Day, Mr Sossion said the CBA they are pushing for is a new one, and has nothing to do with their commuter allowances and other reviews that were paid in two phases after they went on strike in 2012. “It is unfortunate that the State failed to reach an agreement with us. Whenever we met, they devised new hurdles to evade the approval of the CBA. Ninety days to complete the negotiations ended on October 16, 2013, yet nothing has so far been achieved,” he said. He added: “Our National Executive Council (NEC) instructed us to pursue and bring to an end the basic salaries and house allowances, which are key components to our salaries in May, but the Government has been using its commissions to frustrate the agreement.” External obstacles Sossion accused the Government of trying to use the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to impede the regular negotiation meetings, and also using the the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to frustrate their quest for better pay for teachers. “The Education ministry has previously conspired with TSC to try and divide us so that the CBA is not implemented. We are not going to negotiate with SRC either because we are not State officers,” he said. See Also: KNUT, KUPPET in uproar as Kakamega seeks to employ 545 teachers The secretary general was appalled by a statement by SRC that the commission had received recommendations of salaries review from Knut and that it had the powers to make a decision on the same. “SRC has failed to tame State officers like Members of Parliament (MPs) who just pushed for the increment of their salaries, and it should not even think of making a decision on our pay,” he added. Sossion further cautioned the county governments from hiring Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers, and adhere to the court’s conservatory orders barring the same. ECDE teachersHe was speaking in reference to the advert by the Kakamega County government to hire ECDE teachers on contract, saying the sole mandate of recruitment of teachers should be left to TSC since there is much corruption at the county and national government level. “TSC should present a better proposal to hire more teachers as we negotiate with the Government to hire more teachers this financial year,” he said. The vocal union official further said Knut would not allow the Ministry of Labour or any other agency, to deduct National Social Security Fund (NSSF) from their salaries since teachers were not involved in formulation of laws for the authority. Sossion revealed that Knut is formulating its own medical scheme to cater for all ailments, including therapies that require evacuation, for all education stakeholders. The scheme is expected to start functioning on November 1
Posted on: Sat, 04 Oct 2014 04:53:55 +0000
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