William Sossion: I can’t tell you who will blink first

William Sossion, chairman of the Kenya National Union of Teachers, was interviewed by Moses Michira

You have rejected the Industrial Court’s decision. Why?

Yes, we are on strike, possibly forever! We were not part of the suit and there was not a single directive to the union. Further, the Industrial Court cannot cancel a strike; it is only the secretary general who has such powers.

Knut is not above the law is it? You could be cited for contempt, couldn’t you?

That claim is a bad rumour. How can we be accused of contempt of a court when the judge made an error to give orders for a return to work while we did not file any responses in the court process?

One fellow unionist has described your refusal to talk to government as intimidation and contrary to international convention. What do you say to that?

We have not refused to talk to the government, we are ready to dialogue with anyone but what our teachers want is very clear. Let them fully implement the collective bargaining agreement and you will see us in class. Anyone who thinks we are against the international convention should ask himself why the government should be involved in an illegality of ignoring the agreement.

One can foresee a game of brinkmanship between your union and government? Who will blink first?

I am daring anyone on this; our members are not going back to class. It does not matter how long it takes but as long as the agreement is not met, we are prepared to stay on strike forever. We are just started. I can’t answer you on who blinks first, just wait and see.

It’s a high-risk strategy: What if you lose the game of wits?

Knut is determined on this push. I can assure you and the country that what we want is clear. I’m asking the parents to prepare to sit with their children at home for as long as our demands are not met. No teacher will step inside a class.

In a sentence, what is your demand of government?

We want nothing less than the full implementation of the legal notice number 534 of 1997, which we expect would cost only Sh47 billion.