The Kenya union of post primary teachers, KUPPET, has maintained that teacher will accept nothing less than a salary review in July.

During KUPPETS national governing council meeting held on 10^th June 2021 at Ole Sereni Hotel in Nairobi, the National office pledged to issue a communication next week after the submission by SRC over the 2021-2025 CBA.

The aim of the meeting was to deliberate on important issues affecting the teaching fraternity and the education sector, failing to factor salary review in the just released budget being one of them.

kuppet is not impressed with the cunning move TSC has played on teachers, and yet the same TSC is still promising to commitment 2021-2025 CBA.

TSC is making this promise even after the budget has been read and the treasury has taken its position about 2021-2025 CBA.

Among the resolutions of the meeting include:

1. To demand that the teachers service commission makes a counter offer to KUPPET’s memorandum of demands for the new 2021-2025 CBA without any further delay. This demand is made on the understanding that the remaining time to the expiry of the current CBA is still sufficient for the two parties to come to an agreement

2.To demand that the salaries and remuneration commission, the national treasury, and the teachers service commission make public all correspondence touching on teachers and salaries Since 2018. These documents unambiguously support the unions demand for a new salary review.

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3.That the union makes it clear to all government organs that not having a new CBA in place by 1^st July 2021 would constitute gross negligence and abdication on the government spart, having started a CBA process and negotiated for three years.

4.That teachers are expecting nothing short of salary increments to cushion them against inflation and growing burdens of increased workload under the CBC and their new role in mitigating the pandemic, and amidst biting teacher shortages, coupled with 100% transition.

In the meantime, members are advised to brave for tough times ahead if teachers’ wishes are not granted by the employer. It is important for members to know that failure to have a CBA will leave KUPPET leadership with no option other than industrial action.

The Kenya union of post primary teachers, KUPPET, have maintained that all teachers want is a review of their salaries this year.

KUPPET revealed that it had written to TSC, treasury and SRC two weeks ago over delay in the concluding collective bargaining agreement, but received a shallow response from the commission.

“The response we received from TSC alarmed us. All that TSC did was to agree with our concern, without addressing it in any way. Now with barely three weeks to the expiry of the current agreement, the governments indifference to the process has caused intense anxiety and tension in the teaching fraternity,” reads part of KUPPET’S Press statement.

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KUPPET decried the government’s act of dragging its feet on the CBA negotiations for more than a year, despite the union diligently discharging its obligation of pushing for the talks.

“We have been waiting for the counter offer from the employer but to our demands. We were made to believe that TSC was waiting for an advisory from SRC before giving the counter offer,” kuppet explains in the letter.

From KUPPET’s sources, SRC gave the advisory but TSC never shared with them, not even a counter offer. KUPPET alleges that the media has been awash with the speculations as to what the CBA contains and that teachers have been treated to what appears to be a carefully choreographed coverage in the press, insinuating that the government will not provide any funds for a new CBA this year.

The media coverage has blamed covid-19, economic recession, and other factors for the inability of the government to review teachers’ salaries.

KUPPET insists that those are mere excuses, adding that public sector remuneration reviews can stimulate post pandemic economic recovery.

The union claims that cost of living has skyrocketed, teachers’ workloads have increased sharply under CBC, teachers’ roles have expanded to mitigate pandemic, there is a biting teacher shortage, thus there is no justification to deny teachers a salary review.

” If anything, the government has raised the salaries for cadres like MCAs, and administrative officers, who are already so handsomely paid, without any demand from them.”

The fate of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for teachers now hangs in balance after treasury advisory to Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) said that only 10 per cent will be available for proposed pay review for civil servants and teachers.

The advisory has dealt serious a blow to teachers who have been waiting anxiously for the approval of the new 2021-2025 CBA.The National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yatani has committed that only 10 per cent, which totals to around Sh8 billion is available for the review.

It is however not clear whether the amount will only be for the next 2021-22 Financial Year or it will cover the four-year circle as it is usually the case in the CBA. SRC had requested the money from treasury to harmonize workers’ pay and to effect new salary increments in the new CBA for teachers once the job evaluation was completed.

The current CBA is expected to end on June 30, giving way to the next four-year cycle of remuneration based on job evaluations,but this now seems to hang in the balance as details show that the government will not make funds available.

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The information has been received with mixed reactions from the union officials for teachers with some terming it unfair way to treat teachers.

Vihiga Executive Secretary of Kenya National Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) who spoke to Education News on phone recently stated that the information greatly shocked teachers.

“As KUPPET Vihiga, that information was received with a lot of shock because teachers are aware that the CBA we have been using has come to an end and expecting another one in July for the next four years.” Inyeni added that they will only listen to their employer which is Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and not the result of report filed by Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) about their pay rise after job evaluation. “We expect that the basis of our engagement should be documents coming from SRC and counter proposal from TSC because our national office had already given our proposal for the pay rise, but any other information coming in from what we are going to call third parties is not something we are going to ask our members to look into because it is not pertaining to us,”added Inyeni.

The same was echoed by his Narok Counterpart, Charles Ng’eno.“What teachers are doing for this country is such a big sacrificeand the government should not be telling us that it doesn’t have money, what is happening currently is that there is a lot of misuse of public resources,” said Ng’eno.

Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) Secretary General, James Torome said they have not sat with their employer TSC to get a counter offer since they have already submitted their proposal as required by law.

“At this juncture, we are still waiting for the employer to call us and give a counter offer because we already submitted our demands, so any other information coming from any other quarters, we do not recognize it,” said Torome.

Torome added that the information that they will recognize is what will come from SRC to their employer, who will call them and give them the counter offer and share what will be available.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Deputy Secretary General, Hesbon Otieno said that the government should not say that there is no money for CBA adding that CBA is not all about money.

“If the economy is not good and there is no money,then what is it they are offering so that people can discuss? You cannot say that we have no money for CBA. CBA is notabout money, it has a lot of things with very many o t h e r components,” said Otieno.

Kenya Women Teachers Association (KEWOTA) Chief Executive Officer , Benta Opande stated that the Treasury is usurping the powers of Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

“What treasury is doing is simply usurping the powers of TSC in the case of teachers. This is very unconstitutional as TSC is an independent entity,” said Opande.

TSC had previously hinted a possible pay rise for teachers in July 2021, after the employer stated

that it is in final CBA negotiation with SRC hence assuring teachers’ unions that salary talks would com-

mence immediately SRC gets the award from the Treasury to define how the negotiation will be.

In the new CBA deposited at the SRC and which was to take effect from July 2021, the TSC had proposed a minimum of 16 per cent increment in basic salary for teachers and a maximum of 32 per cent.

Classroom teachers, who were underpaid under the present CBA,will be most hit as they were expected to be the greatest beneficiaries in the next phase of salary reviews. Next.