Teachers Could Go On Strike over Pay Rise

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The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) have been negotiating with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over a pay rise following the signing of the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

In the new CBA, the main teachers’ unions and the Commission signed an agreement on the CBA that did not contain any monetary gains to its members. The lack of monetary gains was attributed to the economic recession caused by the novel Coronavirus pandemic

The main teachers’ unions KUPPET and KNUT have now come forward and are negotiating with TSC in a bid to add monetary gains to the CBA arguing that the country has recovered economically.

KUPPET had wanted the Commission to execute a 30% pay rise for teachers in a January 17 letter to the Commission. The union also threatened to go on strike if TSC does not respond positively within three weeks (21 days).

The Commission then responded on the 20th of January saying that it is considering the issues raised and shall respond in due course.

The strike could potentially affect the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) and the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE). KCPE is scheduled to take place on March 7 and March 9 while KCSE is scheduled to be done between March 14 and April 1.

Besides invigilating and supervising roles in the national examinations, teachers are also involved in the marking of the examinations.

KNUT National Executive Committee (NEC) held a meeting in Nairobi and are working on a push for an increase in pay between 15% and 20%.

The union is also campaigning for the rehiring of teachers who left in 2019 and June 2021 due to the KNUT Secretary-General’s public fall-out with TSC.

KNUT’s membership has reduced from 187,000 to a meagre 15,000 with many members being excluded from the salary increases and promotions. Monthly earnings from contributions from union dues have also been reduced from Kshs. 144 million to Kshs. 11 million while union employees were forced to work for many months with no pay.