KNUT re-joins COTU after 53 years

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) secretary general and his Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) counterpart Francis Atwoli at a past function. They announced a reunion after being apart  53 years. [File, Standard]

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) on Thursday announced it had reunited with the Francis Atwoli-led Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu).

KNUT, a founder member of Cotu and now with more than 300,000 members, was forced out of the trade union in 1966.

It was until late last year part of the Trade Union Congress, Kenya (TUC-Ke). 

TUC-Ke last year suspended Wilson Sossion after difference in labour issues.

“Your failure to respond to allegations of gross misconduct within the stipulated time, the NEB through a unanimous decision resolved that you be and are hereby suspended from the office of the secretary general of TUC-Ke with immediate effect,” Sossion’s suspension letter reads in part.

Speaking at the fanfare to celebrate the reunion with Cotu, Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion said it was ‘the biggest chemistry of solidarity’.

“We have come here [Cotu] not out of duress by anybody but we have decided freely and willfully as an organisation that it is time to team up with all workers in Kenya,” he said.

He added that the ‘bold decision’ was arrived at during their 61st Annual Delegates Conference in 2018.

“We are joining to improve all the economic and social conditions of all workers, to encourage the principle of good relations between employees and their employers,” he said.

More to follow.