Teachers’ strike begins as talks fail

By Standard Team

It is official: Teachers go on strike on Monday morning after several meetings with the Government failed to resolve differences over the payment of Sh17.3 billion salary increase.

The majority of the 245,000 teachers will boycott work, paralyse learning in schools and force the Government to accept their terms over the salary offer.

Though the Teachers Service Commission has referred the matter to the Industrial Court for arbitration and obtained orders stopping the strike, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) said it had not received it.

Secretary-General Lawrence Majali said on the telephone on Sunday: "We are not aware of any court order. We have no idea whether there is such an order barring the strike."

And Chairman George Wesonga said: "The strike is on and we shall not relent until the Government gives us our demands 100 per cent. The Government must prepare for the mother of all strikes. Learning will be paralysed everywhere in the country."

On Sunday, the Government accused the teachers’ union of constantly changing goalposts, making it difficult to reach a solution. But Knut threw the ball back into the Government’s court, saying it was rigid and engaging in threats.

Sources said top Knut officials had requested Education Minister Sam Ongeri to propose an acceptable payment schedule as a condition for calling off the strike.

The source said Prof Ongeri summoned Education PS Karega Mutahi and other senior ministry officials on Thursday afternoon to consider the Knut proposal. On Friday, the Government tabled fresh proposals, with a new payment schedule. The Government offered to pay teachers the Sh17.3 billion as follows: Phase one 35 per cent, phase two 35 per cent and phase three 30 per cent.

Mr Majali confirmed this: "It is true we received a salary schedule from the minister, but when the National Executive Committee met today (yesterday), it rejected them in toto."

But Mr Wesonga seemed to read from a different script: "The minister should not lie to Kenyans that we proposed a three-phase implementation schedule. What we proposed was a 70 per cent increment at once and another 30 per cent later. But we now demand payment in one installment."

Instead, the union’s top organ gave fresh demands, including the withdrawal of the deal signed with Kuppet last week.

But Ongeri is said to have been non-committal and this led to the standoff.

He added that Knut later changed positions when it realised the Government had adopted its proposal.

"Kenyans ought to know there have been several informal meetings at night to broker an amicable solution to this problem. The latest being Knut’s proposed schedules which the Government accepted," said the minister.

On Friday, he wrote to Knut over the implementation schedule, requesting the union to respond to the proposal in writing and offered to meet them on Sunday at 2pm.

"But these people kept me waiting in the office for over three hours without communicating to me. It is important to note that Knut has accepted to attend the Conciliation Committee established by the Minister for Labour," the minister said.

He explained that by accepting to attend the committee meetings, the union submitted to the process of conciliation and cannot at the same time call a strike.

But Knut dug in and said it would only accept the salary increase to be paid in two phases of 60 per cent and 40 per cent starting July. Sources said Ongeri had even drafted an acceptance speech on Sunday when it emerged that Knut would not play ball.

Later in the afternoon, he convened a Press conference and declared Monday’s strike illegal. He said TSC will take appropriate action against those who take part in the strike.

"TSC will withhold salaries and all other benefits of any teacher who takes part in the illegal strike. In this regard, all teachers should note that a court order has been served on Knut and this binds all members in the field," he said.

Ongeri said those who participate in the strike would be protected. In a veiled threat to the Knut leadership, the minister said: "Any employee who calls, instigates or incites others to take part in the illegal strike is deemed to have committed a criminal offence for which he or she will be arrested and charged in a court of law."

However, this is a strike like no other that Knut has called in the past decade. Teachers in secondary schools and colleges, who are members of the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), won’t join the strike because their union has signed a salary deal with the employer.

But it may get interesting because some Knut members in primary schools in job groups J and R will benefit from the deal Kuppet signed. And tens of thousands of them are in these categories. The Big Question is: Will they join the strike?

Also, many secondary school teachers are members of Knut, but beneficiaries of the deal Kuppet signed.

Knut and Government representatives have disagreed at the Teachers Service Remuneration Committee, the team that negotiates salary increases for teachers. They agree on many things but the manner of payment and the raises for Approved Teachers III and IV, P1 and P2. Knut wants teachers in these categories to get a 35 per cent raise, but the Government has offered on average 26 per cent.

The union also wants the salary increase to be paid at one go beginning this month. But the Government offers to pay in three phases starting July.

Sources told The Standard that the Office of the President last week tried to intervene in the standoff between Knut and the ministry.

Internal Security PS Francis Kimemia and his Treasury counterpart Joseph Kinyua met Knut Chairman George Wesonga, Majali and Treasurer Fred Ontere at a Nairobi hotel in a bid to avert the strike.

Sources familiar with the meeting confided that the two expressed concern over looming strike, saying it was a major security threat.

"The strike was perceived to be no longer a Ministry of Education affair, but that of Internal Security," said the source.

The Knut officials allegedly gave their proposals to the PSs.

"On Tuesday, the PSs presented to Knut officials a draft proposal of what the Government could afford. The union chiefs in turn took the proposal to its top organ for deliberations," said the source.

Ongeri said yesterday: "We have done all we could to meet the teachers’ demands while balancing the country’s other urgent needs, among them hunger and other key education sectors. But Knut is determined to go on strike regardless of how much we try."

The minister, however, said he was optimistic learning would continue.

"I expect learning to continue since there is a court injunction stopping the intended strike," he said.

Reporting by SAM OTIENO, BEAUTTAH OMANGA AND MASEME MACHUKA

 

 

 

|   |    |   Add Comment |    Comments (6)

---