Hundreds Of KNUT Employees To Lose Jobs In Oyuu-TSC New Scheme
The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has devised plans to shut down 63 branches and raise the retirement age for officials from the current 60 to 65, proposals that have brewed disagreements among the officials.
Additionally, KNUT is planning to lock out of office any official who is elected as a member of county assembly, National Assembly or Senate or is nominated to any of the county and national government legislative arms.
The changes are set to be pushed tomorrow during a meeting of the National Advisory Council (NAC) at Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi. These changes will imply amending the KNUT constitution for the proposals to be adopted.
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“It is all systems go for the NAC meeting as we seek to rejuvenate the union structures after the new office-bearers took charge at the head office and in the branches,” Knut secretary-general Collins Oyuu revealed. The 510 NAC delegates will be taken through the draft laws sought for adoption later by the Annual Delegates Conference (ADC) members.
The proposed changes were availed during a retreat held at Malindi from December 1 to 7, which was an induction meeting held for newly elected branch officials.
If the proposal goes through, the once-giant Knut will remain with only 47 offices based in county headquarters. Branches that will not be affected by the realignment as they were not split are Nairobi, Nyeri, Taita Taveta, Samburu, Laikipia, Nakuru, Turkana and Trans Nzoia.
Majority of the counties, initially structured as districts, have over the past 20 years under Knut’s representation structure been split to three or four branches with hardly 1,000 members each.
When Oyuu and his team took leadership of Knut in June, the union signed a new recognition agreement with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) that proposes the reduction of branches to 47 by 2026.
“We want to restore order in the union, streamline branches and operations at the headquarters so as to better serve our members and respond to the prevailing challenges and dynamics,” said Oyuu.
If adopted, hundreds of workers at the branches will lose their jobs alongside branch officials while reducing the representation of teachers at the union.
“Reduction of branches from 110 to 47 means that 63 branch executive secretaries will lose their jobs,” said a national official who did not want to be named. The plan to increase the retirement age would benefit some of the top officials who are expected to retire.
