Teachers urge Government to respect court award for salary increment

Teachers from Nyanza have urged the Government to implement the industrial court award of between 50 to 60 per cent salary increment.

The teachers also want the Government to sign a collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

The court ruled that the CBA should be registered between Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) within 30 days from June 30.

The increment is supposed to be backdated to July 2013 and goes up to July 2017. The bitterly contested pay increase for teachers goes back to 1994.

The teachers led by Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) Kisumu and Migori chairmen Zablon Awange and Kennedy Makasembo, have warned that should the Government fail to honour the court award, they will paralyse learning in the country.

Speaking at Kuppet office in Kisumu, Mr Awange asked the Government to respect court orders and implement them.

“Jubilee government is a beneficiary of the Supreme Court ruling that gave them power after the Opposition challenged their victory. The same way it respected the ruling, it should respect the Industrial Court verdict. After all, it is the Government that rushed to court for arbitration over the teachers’ matter,” he said.

He added, “We are expecting our new salaries at the end of July. Failure to pay us will result in a major strike never witnessed in the country. The strike might affect national examinations if the Government fails to pay us.” Mr Makasembo echoed his sentiments warning the Government that going back to court is time wasting and teachers will not tire to fight for what is rightfully theirs.

“This Government only knows one way in which citizens express their grievances. It is only through strikes that our dues will be paid. Parents who include teachers should brace themselves for a long strike if our demands are not met,” Makasembo said.

The teachers at the same time called on their colleagues who sexually molest students to stop.

“They should be warned that when they are arrested and prosecuted, the union will not defend them,” Makasembo said.