Teachers Decline TSC’s Proposed Raise
The Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) and the unions for primary and secondary teachers, KNUT and KUPPET, reopened negotiations on the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) covering the years 2021 to 2023 on Tuesday.
Inadvertently, however, the discussion shifted to the pay of teachers about the Salaries and Remuneration Commission’s proposal for pay increases for public servants.
Last month, the SRC assessed salaries and granted those in the public sector pay raises ranging from 7% to 10%.
The outcome of the meeting, however, fell short of the SRC’s recommendation, much to the dismay of the teachers union, primarily KUPPET, the post-primary teachers union.
KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori said: “We were expecting not less than that, even though we had our ambitious expectation and what our teachers expected out there for KUPPET between 30 and 70 percent…so when the figures turned out to be between 9 and 2.5 percent, we realized that maybe it was the President lying to us or the SRC lying to us or TSC is not being genuine.”
If both KNUT and KUPPET approve the TSC’s proposal, the lowest-earning teachers would receive a 9 percent raise and the highest-earning teachers would receive a 2.5 percent raise.
KNUT, on the other hand, states that it will present the offer to its members, even though it is lower than anticipated because it strikes a balance between its highest and lowest earners.
KNUT boss Collins Oyuu said: “Much as we thank the President, we want to tell the TSC that what we expected in the review is not what they brought us, and we ask them a question, suppose the President did not say the 7 to 10 percent, what were you going to bring us? So what we have deliberated on is nothing short of the presidential pronouncement.”
The unions stated that they have requested that the TSC provide them with improved pay raise proposals.
They stated that a review of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and the salaries paid to teachers is necessary, especially as they seek to secure better deals for their members who, like other Kenyans, are struggling with the high cost of living, higher taxation, inflation, increased statutory deductions, and the introduction of new levies, such as the housing levy, which will deplete their paycheques.
Mr. Oyuu stated, “Teachers have suffered in this country, and we are surprised that the TSC has not brought in anything. We are returning home to do a great deal of deliberation on what we discussed with the TSC regarding the 2021 CBA…they told us to sign, but we told them we will not sign.”
Misori, for his part, added, “At this point, we cannot agree because the calculations are producing numbers that are even lower than what teachers expect.”
The TSC and the unions will convene again early the following week to continue negotiating the pay raises and CBA provisions.
Teachers Decline TSC’s Proposed Raise
