“Triple Our Salaries”, Kenyan Teachers Now Demand

After years of relentless back and forth struggle between the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Teachers’ Service Commission, teachers have now demanded that their salaries be tripled in the next two years.

Their demands are contained in a new collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that will come into effect for the period 2021-2023 to replace the current one. In the proposed CBA, teachers want the basic salary of the lowest-paid teacher to be increased to Sh. 65,268 from the current sh. 27,195. Meanwhile, KNUT proposes that Secondary Teacher 1 and Senior Teacher 1 be paid a basic salary of sh. 129,462.

In the current CBA, the pay rise for teachers in the lower cadres was implemented in two phases. Meanwhile, those in the administrative positions had their pay rise implemented in four phases.

In the proposed CBA for 2021-2023, teachers want the increments to be implemented annually from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2023.

The proposals were delivered last week after Knut Chairman Wycliffe Omucheyi and his team held a meeting with TSC. The two bodies decided to re-establish a committee that would accelerate work on the proposed CBA. Knut’s Secretary General Wilson Sossion did not attend the meeting because of his ongoing disputes with the union.

Allowances

Apart from a higher salary, teachers are also demanding for increased work allowances. For example, they want house allowances to be increased by 50% with effect from July 1, 2021.

Knut also proposes that all teachers handling science and technical subjects be given risk allowance at the rate of 10% of their basic salary.

It also proposes that hardship allowances for classroom teachers be increased from the current sh. 6,600 to Sh. 32,634 and for principals to be increased from sh. 38,100 to Sh. 144,518.

The union also proposes that commuter allowances be increased from the current sh. 4,000 and sh. 16,000 to sh.6,000 and sh.24,000.

The CBA also calls for a leave allowance equivalent to one month’s salary, to be paid in one instalment annually.

Knut’s rival, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) also presented its proposals to TSC last week. Unlike Knut, Kuppet is pushing for a salary increase ranging from 30 to 70% in the 2021-2015 CBA.

In the Kuppet proposal, the lowest-paid teacher will receive sh. 36,985 and house allowance ranging from sh. 6,750 to sh.45,000.