Learning in public secondary schools could face paralysis after the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to initiate negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
KUPPET states it has already notified the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Dr. Alfred Mutua, following what they term as TSC’s silence despite receiving a letter regarding the proposed CBA.
Union officials are expressing concern that the current CBA, signed on July 13, 2021, is set to expire on June 30, 2025. Without a new agreement, they argue, their members will be vulnerable to employment challenges.
The proposed new CBA is intended to run for four years, from June 2025 to June 2029, after which fresh negotiations would be held.
The union leadership has warned that if the TSC fails to act within the seven-day period, they will call for a nationwide strike, withdraw labour, and demonstrate until their demands are met.
Speaking to the media in Kakamega on Friday, KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori expressed apprehension over the employer’s perceived silence on a matter crucial for addressing teachers’ welfare and motivating them.
“We have already written to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection to register a dispute with our employer,” Misori stated. “That letter gives the minister seven days to ensure he processes our relationship with the employer, as that is the only option left for us. We do not want our members to be over-exposed in the event that there is no CBA beyond June 30th.”
In the proposed new CBA, KUPPET is pushing for a 50 per cent basic pay increment for teachers in higher grades and a 100 per cent increment for those in lower cadres.
“A house allowance was supposed to be harmonised first, and then an increment of 20 per cent effected across the board,” Misori explained.
He added that the union also proposes a 200 per cent increment for higher grades and 250 per cent for lower grades on commuter allowance.
“We are also proposing a 100 per cent hardship allowance increment and hazardous allowances of 20 per cent of the basic pay,” he further elaborated.
Misori also highlighted proposals for daily subsistence allowances for teachers participating in sports or other co-curricular activities, aligned with their salary scales.
“We also have a proposal to have one-month basic salary as leave allowance; currently, we have a flat rate arrangement according to various job groups,” he added.
The Secretary General also urged the employer to consider overtime allowance based on salary scales and proposed risk allowances for teachers exposed to insecurity in banditry-prone areas.
KUPPET Chairman Omboko Milemba urged the TSC, the Ministry of Labour, and the National Assembly Education Committee to take responsibility and address the plight of teachers.
Milemba also cautioned against any attempts to scrap the national examination fee subsidy, asserting that such a move would undermine basic education.
“Examination fee is part and parcel of basic education, which is supposed to be free and compulsory,” he said.
“So, if you remove the examination fee, you are actually touching the Constitution, especially Article 53, which makes education free and compulsory.” He added.
