Friday, March 29, 2024
HomeGENERAL NEWSTeachers risk missing out on salary increases and promotions in July with...

Teachers risk missing out on salary increases and promotions in July with the new CBA development.

Teachers risk missing out on salary increases and promotions in July with the new CBA development.




Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion, has raised concern over the delay in the discussion and implementation of the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

All teachers are at risk of missing out on salary increases and promotions in July 2021 following delayed negotiations between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and teachers’ unions.




The nominated Member of Parliament (MP) said that the current CBA (2017-2021) expires in July 2021 putting teachers in an uncertain situation.




The teachers’ employer has not called teachers for negotiations with concerns that the government is lacking enough funds.

“There is currently no new CBA for teachers. They will, therefore, miss their salary increment and promotions,” Sossion regretted while heaping pressure on the commission to face teachers before the deadline arrives.




He also asked TSC to give directives on how it would avoid the situation in case negotiations fail to take place between different parties. The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) on its end stated that TSC reached out to them for negotiations.

The Kenya Union of Special Needs Education teachers (KUSNET) Secretary-General, James Torome, said that they were ready to meet TSC to put down a strategy for the 2021-2025 CBA.




“We are yet to be invited by TSC and we are patiently waiting to receive a counter offer or communication on the way forward,” he stated.

KNUT and TSC have been at wrangles over the 2021-2025 CBA agreement since 2020.  The union once threatened to conduct an industrial strike after TSC declined to meet its demands.




“TSC should not put us in the collision course with the government, and disrupt the industrial peace in the teaching service by engaging in mischievous and illegal ways of conceiving, negotiating, and implementing the CBA,” Sossion said in November 2020.

TSC had indicated a possible salary increment for teachers in July 2021 even as the commission gets into its final CBAconsultation with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).




In a letter dated 8th of February 2021 directed to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Secretary-GeneralWilson Sossion urged the union to stop propaganda as it tries to conclude talks with SRC.




“The Commission is in the process of concluding internal consultations with SRC as per the law to pave way for the negotiations. In the meantime, we ask you to be patient and avoid unfounded allegations on the matter,’ TSC said.

The new CBA is to take effect from July 2021 with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) proposing a minimum of 16per cent increment in teacher’s basic salary.




In the proposed CBA, tutors in Grades C4 toDS will profit from a 16 percent pay rise in their basic salaries in the new CBA.

SRC promised to address the stagnation of teachers at job group L (C3) for nearly 20 years with diploma holders being the most affected. “Disparities in pay for workers with similar qualifications, skills, and incomparable occupations, contradict the principles of equal pay for work of equal value,” stated SRC.




Teachers in Grade 85 to Grade C3 will get a salary increment of 32 percent pay in the proposed CBA. A possible increment of up to 20 percent leave allowances, commuter, and house allowances could also be seen.

This possibly means that Senior and Chief Principals will earn between Ksh.131,380 and Ksh.157, 656. Deputy principals in job groups D1 to D3 will get a salary between Kshs 77,840 and Ksh.125, 573.




But the teachers’ unions KUPPET and KNUT had rejected the CBA recommendations by the teachers’ employer. In 2020, the union submitted a new CBA to TSC which KNUT demanded a pay rise of between 120 – 200 percent as KUPPETsought a 30 to 70 percent pay rise.

These developments come at a time when TSC is changing its recruitment approach. The commission scrapped the Bachelor of Education degree and directed teachers to pursue a Bachelor of Arts course or a Bachelor of Science for three years.




Thereafter, they will be required to study a postgraduate course for one year before they are cleared to apply for a TSC number.

TSC should have involved KNUT, which is a teachers’ union. The demands by TSC are a violation of the terms and conditions of employment,” Sossion lamented while defending teachers.






RELATED ARTICLES

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

- Advertisment -
- Advertisment -

Most Popular

- Advertisment -
- Advertisment -

You cannot copy content of this page