KNUT Declares Nationwide Strike On Monday Over CBA Talks
Beginning on Monday of next week, teachers across the country will go on strike, led by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut).
Knut had given the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) a 14-day deadline to call a meeting to evaluate the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that had been struck in 2021.
Due to financial difficulties made worse by the rising cost of living, the teachers’ union is requesting that the CBA be reviewed by the employer of the instructors.
This happened just as instructors were anticipating a pay boost in their paystubs for July. According to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), teachers will receive a 7% wage rise in July.
Over 350,000 teachers and secretariat employees who are employed by the PNP will receive a salary hike in July thanks to money that the National Treasury has already released to TSC in the amount of sh. 9.1 billion.
President William Ruto stated that the 7% to 10% pay increase for teachers and civil personnel is intended to protect public employees from the difficult economic conditions.
“I am aware that the SRC has proposed raising the pay for many cadres of public employees, including government officials. Therefore, we have decided that from tomorrow, the pay of our teachers, police officers, military personnel, and government employees will be increased by 7 to 10%, stated Ruto at the KICC launch of the new e-citizen platform.
Collins Oyuu, the secretary-general of Knut, however, is pushing for a 60% salary increase for teachers, claiming that the Finance Act of 2023 has increased the cost of living and that as a result, salaries need to be further evaluated to protect workers.
The union requests that the commission reconsider the non-monetary CBA in order to account for the erosion of their incomes caused by the rise in statutory deductions and the implementation of additional levies, such as the affordable housing tax.
We commend TSC for introducing its strategy plan for 2023–2027. The over Sh70 billion that TSC will use to implement the strategic plan is very welcome because it was made clear that it would be used for purposes other than teacher salaries, according to Mr. Oyuu, who added that Knut was prepared to pressure TSC into including teacher salaries in the strategic plan.
The National Treasury cut the TSC’s initial demand for teachers’ allowances from Sh2 billion to Sh1 billion, which is regrettable. We continue to request that our TSC meet with us and reestablish the lines of communication,” he stated.
KNUT Declares Nationwide Strike On Monday Over CBA Talks
Mr. Oyuu pointed out that Knut was unable to negotiate any financial terms in 2021 because of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
But now that the restriction on negotiations has been lifted, we are leaving. The TSC has received a letter from us, and I have given them 14 days to meet with us so that we can begin examining the non-financial CBA that we agreed to in 2021. We must not lose sight of the fact that the country’s economic position is so dire that we must sit down once more in order to put food on the table for the teachers.
A well-paid teacher is a good teacher, according to the union leader.
“A teacher who is underpaid cannot deliver. We will restart the salary component of the negotiations that we skipped in 2021 if the government demands performance, he said.
