Major teacher unions in secret merger talks

Kenya: Could the protagonist teachers unions that have over the years fought vicious battles over diverse issues be collapsed into one giant entity?

The Standard on Sunday has established that discreet negotiations have taken place behind the scenes over the last two months in an attempt to amalgamate three teachers’ unions by the end of the year.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) and Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) have already developed a national leadership structure (National Executive Council (NEC) positions) for the new union, whose two proposed names are being kept under wrap for now.

Registration process

The structures were finalised in a meeting held on July 29 at Uasu headquarters in Nairobi. Another meeting has been scheduled for August 13 to develop the structure and positions on the National Governing Council (NGC) and branch positions, which insiders say are most likely to be modeled along the county administrative units. And unlike the merger which had earlier been expected, the unions will collapse into one, with the membership drifting horizontally into the new union to avoid the bigger and stronger union (in this case Knut), swallowing minor ones.

The meeting was the seventh by the Unity Talks Committee chaired by Uasu Chairman Prof Sammy Kubasu. The committee was formed after Education International (EI), a global federation of teachers unions, air-lifted officials of the three unions to a two-day retreat in Kampala in mid-May, where compromise on the way forward was hammered. EI is playing a pivotal role in the amalgamation initiative.

The Kampala retreat was attended by Knut’s Secretary General Wilson Sossion and Chairman Mudzo Nzili, Kuppet’s Secretary General Akello Misori, National Treasurer Wicks Mwethi Njenga and Women Secretary Catherine Wambilyanga. The university lecturers were represented by Kubasu, Uasu Secretary General Dr Muga Kolale and National Treasurer Edwina Kawaka.

And in a move seen as pushing the amalgamation bid higher, EI is sponsoring a five-day international education conference in Nairobi from September 15 to be opened by President Uhuru Kenyatta and later closed by Deputy President William Ruto. Its within September that the process of registering the new union kicks off. EI, which is based in Brussels, Belgium, has 30 million teacher-members worldwide.

It has managed to bring teachers in Tanzania, Uganda, Gambia, Nigeria, Ghana and Botswana under one national unions.

EI President, Ms Susan Hopgood from Australia will also grace the international conference to be held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. The first organisational meeting for the conference was also held on Wednesday at Uasu offices, with representatives from the ministries of Education, Interior, Tourism and Office of the President.

 

But amid all these initiatives, Kuppet seems be dragging its feet. The union skipped the Wednesday meeting, and only sent apologies. Reached by The Standard on Sunday, Kuppet national chairman Omboko Milemba said the union had decided to re-think its commitment to the amalgamation process, even though its team attended the Kampala retreat. “You can see we are currently battling with Knut in court over the agency fee. How do you join forces with people you are fighting?” posed Milemba.

But Kubasu downplayed Kuppet’s new stand, saying it is beyond the union’s leadership to decide whether it wants to be part of it or not as negotiations have gone far.

“Remember individual Kuppet members can decide to join the new union because workers always want to associate with strong outfits that can fight for their welfare better,” added Kubasu. He said the matter in which the new national structure had been developed will ensure all serving officials in the three unions are accommodated until elections are held in 2016.

“We know there are fears of the unknown because all of us hold positions. There are sacrifices to be made but all will be on board, both at the national and branch levels. There should be no reason to fear,” added Kubasu.

No looking back

Sossion said there is no looking back because teachers in Kenya want a stronger union that can serve them better. “Having one strong union is our focus. It happens in other countries and it’s a global phenomenon. Kenya cannot be an exception and I am ready to sacrifice even my own position for the sake of this new union we are pushing for,” he said.

Earlier in the year, Kuppet complained it was tricked by Knut into signing a document at a meeting in Lusaka, Zambia, and termed the push to collapse their union “an exercise in futility.”

Misori had then sought to “set the record straight”, saying Knut had a prior knowledge of the deal to be signed but kept their union in the dark. Misori had then argued that the Kuppet chairman traveled to Zambia for the sole purpose of validating a report commissioned by EI.

Its believed Uasu, which is also affiliated to EI, was brought on board in the Kampala talks to neutralise Knut-Kuppet rivalry. But Kubasu says the idea to collapse the unions was theirs. “The idea of all Kenyan teachers coming together under one union was our own. EI played a facilitative role to enable Knut, Kuppet and Uasu to meet together in a fresh atmosphere in Kampala and the meeting led to a strong take-off,” he said.

The first meeting after Kampala was hosted by Kuppet at the HillPark Hotel in Nairobi’s Upper Hill on May 23, followed by a another hosted by Knut at its offices on Mfangano Street on June 9. A day later on June 10, Knut hosted another meeting at the Panari Hotel on Mombasa Road, where the Kuppet team sent apologies.

“We decided that Uasu should hold all meetings. In general Kuppet has not attended three of the seven meetings but for us, apologies means attendance and we believe they are with us,” said Kubasu.