What KNUT and KUPPET want to end teachers' pay dispute

Kenya National Union of Teachers National Chairman Mudzo Nzili (left) flanked by the Secretary General Wilson Sossion

NAIROBI: Teachers’ unions have maintained their hardline stance on basic pay reviews and allowances for the over 278,000 members.

In a memorandum to the Industrial Court, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) are demanding a 150 per cent salary raise.

They also want house, responsibility, annual leave, hardship, hazard, disturbance, accommodation and night, entertainment and township allowances. Other forms of allowances and advances they want addressed include mileage claims, medical allowance and motor vehicle purchase advances. The joint memorandum filed on Monday has proposals on basic pay and allowances the unions want the court to determine.

CUSHION MEMBERS

They said 26 sessions convened between 2012 and last year with Kuppet, Knut and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) did not agree on a collective bargaining agreement (CBA). They blamed “TSC dilatory tactics”.

“To simply look at the number of teachers as a whole is to ignore the just demands of the individual teacher. The Government’s approach to the matter assumes that all 288,000 teachers live under one roof, without taking into account the fact that each teacher individually incurs living expenses and costs,” reads the memorandum.

If the court grants teachers what they are asking for, they would get a 50 per cent increment on housing allowance. The unions had said the rationale for this was to cushion members from steady increases in the cost of housing since the current allowance is based on the work place.

According to the memorandum, the unions also want a responsibility allowance for teachers in job group L and above, saying TSC currently pays this to job groups K and below.

They proposed the responsibility allowance as 40 per cent of the basic pay for principals, 30 per cent for deputies, 20 per cent for heads of department and 10 per cent for class teachers.

In their submissions, both Kuppet and Knut also propose an annual leave allowance, saying this is already enjoyed by civil servants. They propose the leave entitlement be equal to 21 days and awarded at a rate equivalent to a month’s salary.

They also want a hardship allowance for teachers working in the designated hardship areas including those with harsh climate and insecurity. The unions proposed this be awarded between 30 to 40 per cent of the basic pay.

In addition, they proposed a hazard allowance for teachers exposed to risky and dangerous environments in the course of employment, for instance, teachers of science and technical subjects in laboratories and workshops. The proposal is to pay 10 per cent of their basic pay.

The unions also seek a disturbance allowance for teachers transferred by the commission out of their home districts. They want the Government to pay such a teacher one month’s basic salary as allowance to cushion him or her in respect of disturbances, inconvenience and psychological adjustment to the new location.

In the proposed memorandum, the teachers also demand accommodation and night allowances for teachers who travel out of their stations on official duty, and entertainment allowances to be extended to principals, deputies and heads of departments at the rates enjoyed by civil servants.

The unions said vehicle costs had increased tremendously over the years and, therefore, demanded advances for purchase and mileage claims for their members.

On medical allowances, the unions have proposed a review at a rate of 400 per cent.

They want the township allowances awarded in clusters as a percentage of the basic salary, with Nairobi at 30 per cent, and Kisumu, Mombasa, Nakuru and other cities at 20 per cent. Teachers living in municipalities would be awarded 10 per cent, and five per cent for other townships.

The unions also want additional job groups, S and T, created, saying the current 11 grades do not sufficiently allow for career progression.

Other benefits proposed in the memorandum include study leave with full pay, sabbatical leave with pay for up to six months for teachers out on research and education development-related activities. Other proposals include a salary advance on first appointment, medical loans and school fees advances.

The also want the retirement age made voluntary at 45 years and compulsory at 60.

Industrial Court judge Nduma Nderi had last week asked the unions to file the memorandum.

TSC is expected to file its response by January 26 while the Central Planning Monitoring Unit and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission should file theirs by February 9.