Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua on Tuesday, August 13, 2024, held a crucial meeting with a section of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) in a bid to avert a looming strike as the third term approaches.
On Monday, the KNUT secretary-general Collins Oyuu threatened that the teachers would fail to report for duty when the schools open due to the failure of the government to honour the second phase of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of 2021-2025.
However, in a quick succession of events, Mutua convened an urgent meeting with the Union leadership to iron out some of the contentious issues in the strike notice.
“Today, I met with the National Steering Council of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), led by Secretary-General Collins Oyuu and National Chairman Patrick Munuhe, to address growing concerns that could potentially lead to a nationwide teachers’ strike.
“The union raised several key issues, including the delay in implementing the second phase of the 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which promised a salary increment of 7% to 9%, as well as concerns about the teachers’ medical scheme, non-remittance of SACCO and loan deductions, and delays in retirement benefit payments,” Mutua said.
Oyuu on Monday, August 12, 2024, lamented that parliament had failed to listen to the plight of teachers even after meeting Budget and Appropriations Committee chair Ndindi Nyoro and laying bare the demands of the teachers.
“We raised the issue with the Budget and Appropriation Committee under the chairmanship of Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro and his Education counterpart Julius Melly (Tinderet MP) to ensure the allocations for the teachers are not tampered with, as that would be inviting chaos to the education sector. But it appears they did not listen,” Oyuu stated.
Among the issues raised is the evaluation by the Lyn Mengich-led Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), which concluded that head teachers and their deputies should receive a higher salary because they handle a lot of work compared to the regular classroom teachers.
“What went wrong was the kind of job evaluation that was conducted, and they came up with the wrong thing. They said a deputy headteacher and a headteacher should earn much more than this class teacher, stating that these two do a lot more work than anyone in the school, which we are saying is not true,” Oyuu said on Monday.
Mutua assures teachers
Mutua has assured the teachers that despite the austerity measures by the government, which were occasioned by the withdrawal of the contentious Finance Bill 2024, he would consult with the various state actors to ensure learning was not affected.
“I assured the union leaders of my commitment to finding swift resolutions to these issues and pledged to collaborate with my Cabinet colleagues and other relevant government bodies to address their concerns,” Mutua stated.
Despite the budget cuts and the dissolution of at least 47 state corporations to avoid redundancy, President William Ruto assured the education sector that Ksh18.7 billion would be allocated for the confirmation of Junior Secondary School interns and Ksh30.7 billion for the capitation of the Junior Secondary schools.
