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Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary-General Wilson Sossion has accused teacher’s employer of meddling in its register of members.

In a fresh row with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Sossion threatened to fight back to reclaim the union’s membership.

“I am now declaring an all out war with TSC. We have been peaceful for 16 months hoping it would reform in the way it is treating Knut but it seems it is hell bent on trying to bring us down. We will not allow them,” said Sossion. 

Speaking yesterday, Sossion said the latest move by TSC to respond to a letter the union wrote to the Ministry of Labour was in bad faith. 

Sossion said TSC was peddling lies and trying to distort information by claiming that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission supervised Knut register. 

“The registers of unions are not kept by employers and are only inspected by the Ministry of Labour. That is why we wrote to Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelugui on the matter,” he said. 

Sossion said claims by TSC that members voluntarily withdrew from Knut were a lie.

“Our membership is well over 200,000 teachers presently and none has rendered resignation from the union as per section 48 of the Labour Relations Act,” he added. 

Strange reasons

Sossion at same time decried over  suspension of the Knut and TSC Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and blacklisting of members from benefiting from promotions, saying it was an act of provocation and insubordination. 

He said TSC, had for strange reasons suspended some sections of the CBA in total disregard of the law. 

Sossion said the move has resulted in thousands of teachers being side-lined in promotions and upgrading.

“Knut members have apparently been locked out of the CBA.  They are forcefully being removed from Union. Register which is wrong,” he added. 

Sossion claimed TSC had hired people at IPPD to offload Knut members illegally in an attempt to weaken the union. 

“The law is very clear on how a member resigns from the union and we do not have a single copy of letters by teachers resigning from the union,” he added.