Trade unions should moot a fund to cushion strikers

Trade unions should moot a fund to cushion strikers

The Country is once again faced with another possible disruption of education of our children over a disagreement between the Government and teachers over their July pay. Knut insists that part of their return to work formula was a stipulation that there would be no ‘victimisation’ of teachers for participating in the strike.

According to the union, denial of salary for the period of the strike is equal to victimisation. The Government, on the other hand, insists that you only get paid for work done and that teachers deserve no pay because, in addition to not providing services, they participated in an illegal strike.

The right to strike is provided for both in the Constitution and in the Labour Relations Act. The Constitution at Article 41 provides in general terms that every worker has the right to strike.

The Labour Relations Act goes into greater detail on the right to strike, requirements of a legal (protected) strike, ingredients of an illegal (unprotected) strike and implications of participating in both strikes. Section 79 of the Act addresses protected strikes and provides that employees participating in a protected strike do not commit any breach of contract, cannot be disciplined or dismissed or be sued for their participation in such strike. Relevant to this discussion, Section 79 (6), states that an employer is not obliged to remunerate an employee for services that the employee does not render during a protected strike. Section 80 (1) provides that participation in an unprotected strike is tantamount to a breach of contract and such an employee is liable for disciplinary action and is not entitled to any payment or benefit during the strike period. The Industrial Court declared the recently concluded strike illegal and punished Knut officials for ignoring its directive to end it and engage in negotiations.

Internationally, whereas there is no ILO Convention or Recommendation explicitly governing the right to strike, the ILO Committee on Freedom of Association has stated that the practice of wage deductions for the days of strike gives rise to “no objection from the point of view of freedom of association principles”. All that the Committee has demanded of member states in this regard is that payment for workers on strike should “neither be required nor prohibited”.

Therefore technically, TSC would not be offending the law or any labour practices if it opted not to pay teachers for the period that they downed their tools.

This stalemate, however, shines the spotlight on trade unions and how they manage the dues received from members. With the exception of a few, trade unions in Kenya lack transparency and accountability in elections and management of funds. The practice of employers not being obliged to pay for the strike days is not unique to Kenya. Trade unions in other countries such as in the UK have established a ‘strike fund’ from where the union pays members for the period they are on strike and not receiving their regular pay. Perhaps this is something trade unions in Kenya should employ. But they must all begin by telling us how union dues from members, running into millions, are utilised.

 

Journalists right to give MPs blackout

The refusal by journalists to cover MP’s at Parliament buildings to express their displeasure with the cruel, barbaric and unothordox way they were ejected from the parliamentary Press centre is highly commendable and a step in the right direction.

The excessive arrogance the MPs are portraying out of their false believe that they are all important and powerful and hence can bulldoze, dictate and direct anybody and everybody as they wish, MUST now be stopped at all costs.

If not checked now, this Parliament, which is increasingly becoming a threat to a free, independent Press and democracy will run amok and become dictatorial and start abusing the parliamentary powers and privileges and even our Constitution.

It’s important for these MPs to be brought down to earth and be made to understand in the hard way that there’s no single institution that’s indispensable. Simply put, all must respect the country’s supreme law and, above all, other independent institutions or agencies.

More importantly, MPs should be kindly reminded that Parliament does and will never ever have the monopoly of knowledge. Period.

{Enock Onsando, Mombasa}

 

Miraa has wrecked families in NE

Miraa is the curse of North Eastern Kenya. It is a narcotic and recognised as such by many countries.The little twigs provide entertainment to their addicts. Miraa is not only highly addictive but also expensive.

Miraa is a hallucinogen; it causes hallucinations. It has to be chewed constantly to reinforce the hallucinations as the effect wears off once the chewer runs out twigs and leaves. Addicts have to be able to replenish their stock or they will suddenly fall off the cliff of the make believe world and face the  world’s harsh realities. That is what the miraa chewers avoid. They want to be out there in their own world, unbothered by the harsh reality of life.

Miraa is also expensive. Sometimes addicts have to make a choice between chewing miraa and eating lunch. Income level in North Eastern Kenya is low. A typical family subsists on US$5 a day. A father, the  family bread winner, therefore has two bills to pay every morning; food and miraa. Oftentimes, the income is not sufficient and he has to make a choice between family and miraa. Miraa has had devastating effects on the people North Eastern Kenya. It has destroyed families, increased divorce rates and number of school drop outs. This means it is a source of poverty at very basic level. Fathers faced with the choice of what to abandon between their  daily ‘entertainment’ and family, always choose to keep miraa . This scenerio is repeated across North Eastern where families are headed and taken care of by women. Some of these women also maintain their husband’s expensive habits.

 {Abdimajid A, Wajir South} 

 

State should give teachers better pay

The question is, should teachers be paid their July salary or not? Everybody except the Education Cabinet Secretary and his Principal Secretary believes they should. Notably, pay was part of the teachers return-to-work agreement and, if anything, striking is part of negotiations. That is why we have unions. There is no doubt that teachers ‘earnings are low. Low is a comparative term. It means those in other areas with similar qualifications earn more. Majority of teachers earn under Sh20,000.

A bill is about to be tabled in Parliament to raise the Inspector General of Police’s allowances to Sh1.6 million, ostensibly to make him work better. For making a technical appearances and sitting on a soft sofa MPs are paid Sh5000 per day ‘sitting allowance’. Teachers also deserve better.  We all agree that the wage bill should be kept low to keep inflation low. But to be fair, teachers pay can only remain where it is if we reduce salaries of all others to reduce the disparity. Why do senior State officials preach water and drink wine?

 {Linus Ouma Asiba, Busia}

 

Is Press obsessed with beastiality?

“Bad news is good news” is a paradoxical saying in journalism meaning the more controversial a piece of news is, the juicier it is. Since the Mombasa incident, the one of nine girls and a dog, the country has been awash with news of bestiality cases. It is easy to conclude that such cases have increased even though that may not necessarily be the case.

I am convinced that that bizarre incident reminded journalists how much their business depends on controversy. As a result, we now have journalists combing every village for bestiality cases now that there is no MRC or Al Shabaab to provide alternative news. My point is: There is a whole list of important news out there and bestiality cases are just not in that list.

{Kiarie Kelvin, Garissa}

 

Worrying hatred on social media

I am perturbed by the resurgent ethnic intolerance especially in our social media. It appears that every move the Government or the opposition makes must elicit bits of ethnic emotions and this does not augur well for a nation still reeling from the aftermath of the divisive elections. From ethnically inclined pages where bloggers openly fault each others’ community to hurling insults at any perceived divergent opinion there is reason to panic. The Kisii funeral incident is a testimony to this.

{Brian Ojumbe, Njoro}