Teachers issue strike threat over allowances

By Evelyn Kwamboka  and Otieno Owino

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has given Parliament until tomorrow to dispose of a legal notice blocking their allowances.

Knut chairman Wilson Sossion said if Parliament does not act before it breaks for Christmas, union members will declare a dispute and resolve to take industrial action before schools open in January.

“Teachers have resolved that Parliament should do away with Legal Notice 16 of 2003 before the end of Thursday because it contravenes the return to work agreement we had before schools opened for Third Term,” he said.

The legal notice gave the Government powers to revoke allowances that had been awarded in 1997.

If degazetted, teachers will automatically enjoy the following allowances: house, medical, responsibility, accommodation and transfer, as negotiated in 1997.

The rule amended the provisions of six allowances for teachers from a percentage of their basic salary and varied them to job groups and teaching locations.

Deal sealed

On Tuesday, Sossion said the Government had offered to revoke the notice “subject to commitment from the union to renegotiate Legal Notice 534 of 1997.” He said union members resolved not to re-negotiate the 1997 deal as requested by the Government because it was a sealed deal.

“We are waiting for the Government’s counter proposal on the Collective Bargain Agreement we tabled in the ongoing talks,” he said.

The resolution by Knut members now leaves parents and students in the hands of MPs, as they wait to see whether teachers will make good their threat to disrupt teaching next month.

In the resolution passed during the 55th Annual Delegates Conference in Kisumu County, members also called on Government to speed up the ongoing CBA talks, saying they should be concluded and implemented before the end of the year.

Knut has proposed a 300 per cent pay rise for its members by year’s end. The union also demanded immediate payment of accrued dues of teachers who retired between 1997 and 2007.

Teachers warned if these three demands are not met, they will declare a dispute that will be followed by industrial action.

The members also resolved to have one union fight for their rights - a jab at rival Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers.

Sossion said teachers in private and public schools must be governed by the new Teachers Service Commission Act 2012.

“Knut must restructure itself to admit teachers in private schools and represent their interests. The proliferation of unions in the teaching service is an elaborate scheme to slow down and weaken Knut.”

The chairman took issue with Prof Douglas Odhiambo’s proposal to reduce the period of instruction in primary from eight to six years, describing it as a disastrous proposal. He said those working on reforms in the education sector should stop experimenting on children.

“The proposed structure is costly and serves no new unique purposes. The Ministry of Education should not play secret cards under the table. We must be fully consulted on all aspects of reforms,” he warned.