Here Is What Transpired In TSC Meeting With Teachers’ Unions
The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has not agreed on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement with teachers’ unions.
The Commission had invited both the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi today to carry out negotiations that were expected to lead to the tabling of a counteroffer from the Commission.
TSC revealed that there will be no salary increment for teachers owing to the economic recession in the country that Covid-19 has caused since the first case was reported in March 2020.
TSC explained that the decision not to award teachers on the new CBA was due to advice they received from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
“SRC gave an advisory that there would be no review of the basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid public sector in the financial year 2021/2022 – 2022/2023,” said the TSC CEO Nancy Macharia.
Following the SRC’s recommendation, TSC wanted to negotiate on some sections of the CBA while keeping the current salary rates.
The proposal was given to the teachers’ unions as they began the discussions concerning the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
As expected, the teachers’ unions rejected the Commission’s offer in the negotiations saying that that TSC had not included any monetary gains from the CBA.
“KUPPET is reluctant to entertain a CBA with no monetary benefits,” said the KUPPET secretary-general Akello Misori in a statement.
Misori said that the union is working for a pay rise that would cushion teachers against inflation and burdens of increased workload under the incoming Competency-Based Curriculum (CBC).
Akello Misori confirmed that they were not satisfied with the proposed offer to the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
“Given the wide disparities in remuneration across the various cadres in the expiring 2016-2021 CBA, coupled with the sharp inflation in the country, this is the time to review teachers’ salaries,” read a statement.
In a statement, KUPPET termed the contents of the TSC proposals ‘negligible improvement’ in the working condition of teachers.
According to KUPPET, this comprises maternity leave from the current period of 90 days to 120 days.
TSC also proposed the fast-tracking of promotions in arid and semi-arid areas. Besides, they included the newly passed pre-adoptive leave for parents who wish to bond with their children.
“After the current CBA expires tomorrow, the KUPPET National Governing Council will meet within seven days, to deliberate on the incipient vacuum and give directions to our members,” said a statement from the union.
The newly elected KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu on his part termed the proposal as laughable.
Earlier in the month, SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich issued a statement indicating that they were still going on with the CBA negotiation process and that the SRC was looking at the submissions that TSC made as far as teachers’ proposals on salary review were concerned.
However, union officials said there is still uncertainty in the future as the National Treasury did not factor in the teachers’ salary increments in the Budget.
In the Budget, the Treasury set aside Sh. 588 billion to the Ministry of Education in the 2021/2022 financial year. Concerning the CBA for the years 2021-2026, no funds were allocated.
The Current CBA expires tomorrow the 30th of June 2021.
Enhancement of maternity and paternity leaves from 90 to 120 days and 14 to 21 days were among the TSC’s proposals in the discussions.
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