BY DAILY NATION
Kenya National Union of Teachers has issued a seven-day strike notice demanding the reinstatement of teachers’ annual pay increment and promotion for educators with higher qualifications.
The union lodged the dispute between them and Teachers Service Commission with the Labour Ministry on Thursday.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion said all teachers have a right to an annual increment and it was not an item of discussion in the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which was effected last month and saw an increase in teachers’ basic salaries.
“In July, TSC in blatant contravention of Constitution, the Employment Act as well as established International Labour Organisation Conventions, purported to scrap the annual salary increment for teachers,” Mr Sossion said.
“These increment is available to the teacher as a matter of right in law and the existing scheme of service further governed this entitlement.
Speaking at the union’s offices in Nairobi after the 220th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, Mr Sossion warned they will reject any decisions imposed on them by TSC, adding that the commission must abide by the Constitution.
The commission, he said, must involve them in any decision they make involving teachers in respect to the tenets of public participation and consultations as spelled out in the Constitution.
“But we are not meeting with TSC on this. It’s a matter now with the Labour CS and we are waiting to check on our pay slips to see if they have been rectified. Lack of rectification will invite the wrath of teachers,” he said.
