New sticky issues as teachers’ strike stalemate persists

Teachers allied to the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) sing and dance as they chant slogans at Likoni kitaruni along the Mombasa-Lunga Lunga High way [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD].

As the teachers’ strike enters its second week tomorrow, two sticky issues have emerged relating to their payment: Should the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) increase the teachers’ basic salary or raise various allowances?

The Standard On Sunday has established that this is crux of the matter even as Cabinet secretaries Jacob Kaimenyi (Education) and Kazungu Kambi (Labour) lead the Government side in negotiations with members of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

Either preference has its implications to the teachers as well as the unions.

If the TSC opts to pay the allowances only, then employees will benefit directly without a single cent trickling into the kitties of Knut or Kuppet, in accordance with the global labour dictates.

On the other hand, if the bargain goes the way of basic salary increment, then the a percentage of the same shall be retained by the unions. According to the standard labour practice, unions can only charge a union fee from members’ basic salaries, not allowances.

The Government has proposed increasing the allowances only under the collective bargaining agreement, while the unions have demonstrated preference for a salary increment. 

Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion vehemently defends the position of the teachers' union. Maintaining that a salary increment is a crucial aspect of any collective bargaining agreement, the Knut boss argues that a basic salary is the all-important component that sets the benchmark for teachers’ pay.

“We want the basic salaries of teachers raised, so that even those among us who will be retiring in August or even earlier can have their retirement package calculated on the basis of their new salary scales,” says Sossion.

Prof Kaimenyi maintains that “nobody has said that we are not going to increase the teachers’ salaries”. However, he says the figures and percentages proposed by the teachers are not factored in the current budget and so the issue of salaries will be addressed adequately in the next round of talks.

“Research the world over has shown that salaries alone cannot satisfy employees. The most motivating factors for employees have to do with improved working environments and good welfare for the staff, among other factors, all which are couched in various allowances,” says Kaimenyi.

While talks between the unions, the TSC and the Labour ministry have borne no fruits, Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich has said there is no money to increase teachers' pay, further complicating chances of any amicable solution to the crisis.

On Wednesday, Rotich said there was a plan in place to address the needs of teachers, but that it would only come into force from the 2015-16 financial year. The CS indicated that there would be harmonised allowances worth close to Sh20 billion implemented for government employees in the 2015-16 financial year, and that more than half of this cash would go to teachers.

In an interview with The Standard On Sunday, Prof Kaimenyi stressed that there was not enough money to go round. 

“While we are doing everything to address concerns raised by the teachers, I am urging them to comprehend the current financial constraints. If we yield to their demands of raising salaries to the high tune of 300 per cent, then similar demands will erupt from colleagues in the other sectors,” says Kaimenyi.

The CS may have spoken so soon. The Trade Unions Congress of Kenya (Tuc-Ke), to which Knut belongs, had a week ago warned that if by the end of seven days the teachers' dispute would not have been resolved, it would issue a seven-day general strike notice.

Dr Charles Mukhwaya, Tuc-Ke's deputy secretary general, issued the statement in company of national chairman Tom Odege, and officials from Knut, the Dock Workers Union, the University Academic Staff Union (Uasu), the Kenya Universities Staff Union and the Union of Kenya Civil Servants.

Uasu national chairman Sammy Kubasu told The Standard on Sunday  that the union was also likely to issue an independent strike notice if the Inter-Public University Councils Consultative Forum did not start talks on a new collective bargaining agreement by January 17.

“The new agreement is 19 months late and we are not going to entertain any further lateness,” said Prof Kubasu.

Nurses have also threatened to join the industrial action if the Government does not meet the teachers' demands, which include a 150 per cent basic salary increment, in seven days.

“It is an open secret that the State is not keen on addressing the teachers’ stalemate with urgency. We are standing in solidarity with teachers because we are also parents,” said Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary general Seth Panyako.

As the strike rages, both the union leadership and the Education CS have taken hardline positions. Kaimenyi has maintained that the strike is illegal, and that the Government will not discuss salary increments until a job evaluation is undertaken.

But Sossion and Kuppet led by chairman Omboko Milemba and secretary general Akello Misore say the strike will continue until their demands are met.