TSC Table Final CBA Review Deal With Unions
As teachers’ unions prepare to propose their own set of proposals for the review of their collective bargaining agreement (CBA) for the years 2021–2025, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) will today, August 22, table its pay offer for teachers.
Yesterday, the Commission began deducting third-party expenses from teachers’ August wages, such as union dues, loans, insurance premiums, and Sacco payments.
However, TSC hopes to reach an agreement with the unions this week so that it may pay full salary with an increase in August.
It is still unknown if TSC would retroactively apply the CBA 2021–2025 to July 1, 2021, the date it began.
Teachers’ August salaries could be delayed if the salary negotiations linger on.
Less than a week after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) ordered a 7% to 10% pay increase for state personnel, the TSC has summoned both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) to debate the CBA.
However, due to high taxes, union officials have rejected the percentage increase and are calling for a greater salary raise.
This letter is to invite you to a meeting with the TSC to evaluate the 2021-2025 CBA between the TSC and Kuppet, which is set for August 22, 2023 at 9 a.m. The Kenya School of Government will be the location of the meeting, according to TSC.
Knut and Kuppet are both in favour of reviewing both base pay and benefits.
Due to the challenging economic climate, the commission and the unions want to evaluate the non-monetary CBA that was agreed in 2021.
Kuppet has suggested reexamining a variety of issues, including a wage raise of 70%, which is ten times greater than the SRC’s highest proposal.
Earlier today, Kuppet representatives led by Secretary-General Akelo Misori spent hours in a meeting to finalise their demands before meeting with TSC.
When asked what was on the agenda for their meeting, he responded to the Nation, “We are meeting the TSC tomorrow (today).”
A 30 to 70% rise in basic salary, according to Kuppet Mombasa executive secretary Lynette Khamadi, is at the top of their list of demands.
The high cost of living, the introduction of NSSF (National Social Security Fund) deductions, to which we were not contributing, and the housing levy are the reasons Kuppet is pushing for a 30 to 70% salary increase, according to the unionist, who also noted that statutory deductions like those for the National Health Insurance Fund had increased.
“The 10% salary increase offered by the SRC is absurd; it’s not even a Sh500 increase if all these regulatory deductions are applied to a teacher’s pay slip. We also seek promotions due to the stagnation of many instructors, particularly diploma teachers who have stayed at C2. TSC does not grant them an advancement even when they receive degrees,” the woman claimed.
Knut, on the other side, requests that their employer raise wages, particularly for the lowest cadres, noting the financial hardships brought on by the rising cost of living.
In order to protect employees from the consequences of the new tax laws, Secretary-General Collins Oyuu stated that pay must be examined following the adoption of the Finance Act 2023, which has increased the cost of living.
According to Mr Oyuu, the TSC called the unions to a meeting because to the rise that SRC had suggested.
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“We must discuss it to provide it with a legal perspective. You are aware that instructors are not cane cutters to whom you can just wake up and say, “I have increased your pay by Sh5”. To execute this, we must go through a process, he explained.
Since the 2017–2021 CBA featured many references to and perks for head teachers and their deputies, principals and deputy principals, it is first and foremost how the SRC presented this that interests us. As if other people were teachers in the lavatory, they grouped together a group they termed classroom teachers, Mr Oyuu added.
The union president claims that there is no provision for non-administrative teachers in the 2017–2021 CBA. But he added that Knut wants these instructors to be given priority in the compensation rise when the 2021–2025 CBA is reviewed.
TSC Table Final CBA Review Deal With Unions
According to him, the best-paid teacher should receive the lowest percentage rise, while the lowest-paid teacher should receive the largest percentage increase. The basic compensation for the primary school teacher in the D5 work group with the highest earnings is Sh131,380, while the basic income for the teacher in the B5 job group with the lowest earnings is Sh21,756.
We must agree because this is going to be a collective agreement, therefore we want to examine how TSC has set up their table before offering our opinions, modifications, deletions, and additions. We will also request that TSC evaluate the CBA as is. You should be aware that it was a cashless CBA, and as a result of the SRC’s recommendations, which said that not a single public sector union received a monetary CBA, we understood that and engaged TSC less.
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“TSC will present their proposals to us before we respond with a counter-offer. The 7 to 10%, which should be Sh21 billion for both the public service and teachers, would be the topic of our argument. Not a lot of money, Mr. Oyuu continued.
He claimed that the Covid-19 pandemic, which had an impact on the nation’s economy, had further weakened the unions. However, Knut asserts that they are prepared to revisit the monetary component of the CBA now that the economy has improved.
The suggestions of the Presidential Working Group on Education Reform will also be covered by Knut. The task force’s plan to demote non-graduate primary school heads has been challenged by the union, which has referred to it as “one of the worst” labour practises.
Thousands of primary school head teachers who do not hold advanced degrees could be demoted in January of the following year if the task force’s recommendations are put into action. Headteachers of primary schools that serve as junior secondary schools (JSS) will oversee them under the guidelines for a transitional period that will expire on December 31.
The CBA also mentions a recognition agreement, and we must be explicit enough to accept the recommendations of the Presidential Working Group on Education Reforms, but the problem of demoting head teachers who lack degrees is irrelevant. Simply put, you cannot be demoted from an administrative position because they are typically substantive positions; instead, you can only be compelled to quit through other reasons, according to the constitution.
Mr. Oyuu stated that Knut would demand that head teachers without degrees be given time to earn the more advanced degree.
In order to combine the current nursery, primary and JSS in one building with a single head teacher, the task force is recommending the establishment of comprehensive schools.
The majority of Kenya’s more than 23,000 public primary schools have received Ministry of Education approval to host JSS.
The government and TSC will be required to develop standards for senior teachers who will report to the head. It is anticipated that head teachers who are not equipped to lead comprehensive schools would be assigned smaller duties.
TSC Table Final CBA Review Deal With Unions
