Hope as TSC, teachers’ unions start pay talks

**TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia**

The teachers’ employer has started salary talks with unions, signalling peaceful times for the education sector, as national examinations approach.

Teaches Service Commission senior management staff yesterday held separate meetings with the two teachers’ unions and agreed on a negotiation formula.

Officials of the Kenya National Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers expressed confidence in the talks and said that a new pay deal should be sealed by end of next month.

“We have removed all the roadblocks to these talks and we have also seen all indications from TSC that they want to see a speedy conclusion of the talks,” Wilson Sossion, the Knut Secretary General, said.

Kuppet and Knut have placed two separate proposals demanding a basic salary increase of between 200 and 300 per cent.

If adopted, the highest-paid secondary school teacher will take home Sh605,960 per month and the lowest-paid under Job Group J will earn Sh73,986.

The lowest-paid primary school teacher (Job Group G) would take home Sh50,016 with the highest-paid (Job Group R) earning Sh289,856 per month.

Fat allowances

Kuppet also proposes that teachers who have attained higher qualifications – Masters degree and above – be paid a postgraduate allowance at the rate of 40 per cent of the new basic salary.

In addition, secondary school teachers want an equivalent of half their basic pay for house and hardship allowances payable at the rate of 30 per cent of the proposed new basic salary.

On their part, Knut is pushing for a review of a raft of allowances – responsibility, housing, commuter, leave and medical – in addition to other professional issues to be considered during talks.

KNUT wants newly recruited teachers to get a one-month salary advance to be recovered during the first six months of employment.

The union is also pushing for advance payments towards school fees, purchase of houses and furniture – all to be recovered through a monthly check-off system.

Other demands by Knut include mileage claims and increased medical allowance for all teachers.

Yesterday, Sossion said TSC would table a counter-offer to the unions’ demands.

“It is now up to TSC to make the process fast enough. We are ready and willing to beat the deadline given to us by President Uhuru Kenyatta,” Sossion said. Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori said TSC has two weeks to come up with an offer.

“They have what we have proposed. It is up to them to tell us what they have. We have given them two weeks to make a counter-proposal, which shall be discussed in our next meeting on October 4,” Misori said.

He asked the Salaries and Remuneration Commission to issue negotiation guidelines to TSC.

“We expect them to furnish TSC with the guidelines on salaries and pension, which will form the basis for our talks,” Misori said.

A senior TSC official told The Standard on Saturday that both sides agreed on a negotiation formula that would culminate in signing a Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Negotiation team

“Each union forwarded five names and TSC also selected five officials to form a negotiation team. The meetings shall however be conducted separately with one goal of signing a CBA,” said the official, who did not want to be named.

Misori will lead the Kuppet negotiation team. Other members are national chairman Omboko Milemba and his vice Julius Korir, national treasurer Mwethi Njenga and gender secretary Catherine Wabilyanga.

Sossion will lead team for Knut. Other members are national chairman Mudzo Nzili, national treasurer John Matiang’i, deputy secretary general Hesbon Otieno and deputy national treasurer Ndiku Muo.

Commission chairperson Lydia Nzomo and Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia will lead the TSC team.

Sossion said the next meeting between Knut team and TSC has been scheduled for September 28.

“We have agreed on timelines and the law. We also agreed that each team must be available for all the meetings. Knut is upbeat and we ask our members to be patient,” he said.

The start of pay talks is good news to the 1.5 million candidates registered to sit Standard Eight and Fourth Form national examinations.

Some 952,445 candidates will sit this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examinations, while 577,079 will sit the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education test.

The unions had previously threatened to paralyse administration of examinations if pay talks were delayed. This was after Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i announced that school principals and head teachers would be examination supervisors.