Teachers Push Forward With Planned Strike Despite Ruto Intervention

The Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has officially filed a strike notice with the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection, which is set to expire on August 25, 2024. The teachers’ strike is set to take place from Monday, August 26, 2024, over their salary increment as agreed in a Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) signed in 2021.

KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori on Monday, August 19 said the union had registered the dispute about the salary increment to the Ministry of Labour, lamenting that negotiations with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) have hit a dead end. 

The strike sets the stage for a nationwide showdown between the government and teachers when schools reopen, threatening the stability of the latter when schools are set to resume for the third term.

“Further to our registration of dispute with your office on 12 August 2024, and pursuant to our long-running and now deadlocked negotiations with the Teachers Service Commission, KUPPET hereby issues a seven-day Strike Notice for industrial action under Section 76 (c) of the Labour Relations Act 2007 by our members and all Kenyan teachers starting on Monday 26 August 2024,” Misori announced in a letter seen by Viral Tea.

A group of school girls walking on the streets of Nairobi. /NMG

The union boss noted that they want TSC to fully implement the 2021-2025 CBA expected, adding that the operating CBA between KUPPET and the TSC was last signed in June 2021 and amended by an Addendum in August 2023. 

According to him, “The CBA is part of the law of the land, having been registered at the Employment and Labour Relations Court in accordance with the Industrial Relations Act, the Industrial Charter and the Constitution of Kenya.”

The union demanded that the TSC must discharge its legal responsibilities and immediately remit the teachers’ emoluments for July 2024, which Misori affirmed should include basic salaries and allowances, as provided under the Agreements.

Additionally, Misori lamented that there are 130,000 teachers whose Promotion has stagnated. “The union demands the immediate confirmation by the Commission that it will promote 130,000 teachers who have stagnated in their current job grades within this financial year,” he said, adding that those teachers were already shortlisted and interviewed for new grades in 2023, but failed to get their appointments only due to the lack of a budget for their promotions. 

Further, he pointed out issues regarding the teachers’ medical cover, arguing that despite the government’s allocation of Ksh15 billion towards the teachers’ medical scheme in the current financial year as per the contract, the scheme has collapsed. 

He said teachers’ insurance cards are honoured only in public hospitals, which are few and often have no drugs or medical personnel. “The TSC must live to its commitments under the scheme contract and restore healthcare services to our members,” he demanded. 

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On loans and NSSF remittances, the union revealed that since the commencement of the Finance Act 2023, the Commission has been deducting National Social Security Fund (NSSF) funds from teachers’ salaries without remitting the same to the Fund.

“Likewise, since June 2024, the Commission has deducted and not remitted funds for third-party agents including commercial banks. The Commission must urgently make good on its responsibilities to remit tax and other deductions made at source,” the Union appealed, further demanding the conversion of JSS teachers’ employment.

“KUPPET demands the immediate confirmation of all current intern teachers into permanent and pensionable employment effective 1 July 2024 and the remittance of their full salaries for the month which are already in arrears,” Misori further noted.

The union also demanded the recruitment and appointment of 20,000 new teachers on permanent and pensionable terms to address the huge deficit in Junior Secondary Schools.

The strike notice was filed despite intervention by President William Ruto who announced on August 16 that the government was working to implement the second phase of the CBA that would see teachers get a salary increment in a bid to avoid a looming strike come the Third Term. The second phase of the CBA was to be implemented in July 2024.  

The Head of State revealed that the government came into an agreement with the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and KUPPET to sit together with the TSC and the National Treasury to avoid a strike.

President William Ruto speaking at the joint session of Cabinet and Principal Secretaries at State House, Nairobi on August 12, 2024. /PCS

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