A nationwide teachers’ strike is set for next month after teachers unanimously agreed to down their tools in January over the pay increase demands, after the KNUT top organ gave their management the go-ahead to call for a strike.
KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion speaking at the teacher’s Annual General Meeting said they have given the government up to December 31 to table a tangible pay offer, failure to which they will have no choice but to abandon class.
The delegates voted in favour of a strike at their annual conference, should the government fail to present them with a substantive offer before schools reopen next year.
They took the decision after Sossion informed them that even after calling off their strike last year to allow for negotiations towards the signing of a Collective Bargaining Agreement, no progress had been made.
“Where else in the history of the world has a government called for negotiations and then failed to put anything on the table 26 meetings in? They should have first gotten their house in order before engaging us. Not withdraw offers because they hadn’t consulted the Treasury or the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC),” he said.
Sossion argued that Treasury and Salary and Remuneration Commission (SRC), were being used as, “simply another ploy,” to take teachers on, ‘a merry-go ride’.
“It is always one thing after another but this will not simply be another strike after another,” promised Sossion.
As expressed by Charles Mukhwaya of the Trade Union Congress, Sossion, who is also the Congress’ General Secretary, the threatened teachers’ strike might escalate into a general public service strike action.
Sossion claimed SRC was frustrating the better remuneration of not just teachers, but also public servants in general because those in public service are facing the same challenges teachers are facing.
“What is this job evaluation animal? As teachers, it is clear what our job descriptions are and what qualifications we require. It is also a bit like trying to attach reins on a horse after opening the barn door by calling for evaluations in the middle of negotiations,” said Sossion.
He cited that the union would therefore only sit at the negotiating table with their constitutionally created employer; The Teachers Service Commission.
They also want the government to facilitate the ‘free’ education of special needs children all the way to university and full compensation for teachers, ‘killed in the line of duty,’ following the execution of 24 teachers in Mandera last month.