President Uhuru directs TSC to pay teachers September salaries, KNUT and TSC to sign CBA

President Uhuru Kenyatta has directed Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) to sign a collective bargaining agreement to end the salaries disputes.

The following is a full statement by the President:

Fellow Kenyans,

You will recall that there has been a prolonged dispute between our teachers’ unions, and their employer, the Teachers Service Commission. The dispute has persisted for years; indeed there has been a strike every year for the last nine years.  It is time, as I have said before, to end it once and for all.

Earlier this month, the Court of Appeal gave its judgement on the dispute. 

Now, following the decision of the court, there is an urgent need to bring all parties together for dialogue.  It is time to reconcile, and to return to harmony in the education sector.

That is why, today, I called a meeting between the steering committee of KNUT and the Commissioners of the TSC.  We needed to reconcile, and we could not reconcile until we unlocked this deadlock.  The meeting has been fruitful.  Upon discussion, the parties have agreed to proceed as follows:

That all parties will withdraw all the cases related to the dispute that remain pending in our courts.

That further to today’s agreement all matters pertaining to the dispute will be concluded through negotiation.

That immediately after the cases are withdrawn, the TSC and KNUT will meet and begin dialogue.  The point of those talks is to come up with a four-year collective bargaining agreement which will, at a minimum, address the following points:

Full recognition of the binding advisory by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on the salaries and remuneration of teachers.

There must also be full recognition of a basic point: equal pay for equal work.  We are in public service, and we have a duty to manage public funds equitably and effectively.  It is inequitable and ineffective to pay some more than others when both are doing the same work.

The necessary first step to ending that inequity and ineffectiveness is a job-evaluation exercise, where we determine the level of performance of public officers.  We will then be in a position to see what various employees at various levels should be paid.  That includes all of us: myself, the Deputy President, Cabinet Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, MPs and all who earn from monies collected from the taxpayer.  This is why it is critical that the SRC be allowed to fast-track and complete its job evaluation for all public servants.

Let me make the timeline perfectly clear: within one month of the start of this dialogue, I expect both parties to come up with an acceptable collective bargaining agreement.

In the spirit of reconciliation and consideration, I urge the Teachers’ Service Commission to consider paying all the teachers their September 2015 salaries and union dues at the earliest opportunity.

Further, we must consider the circumstances of those teachers who reported for duty during September,2015.  In consideration of the circumstances under which they worked in September 2015, I urge the Teachers Service Commission to consider paying them appropriate compensation for their extraneous work during that period.

Finally, let me take this opportunity to thank the chair and commissioners of the TSC, the executive and members of KNUT, and the employees of TSC, led by their deputy CEO, for their cooperation in ensuring that this meeting takes place.

God bless you all. God bless Kenya.