By Michael Oduor
Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), Taita Taveta Branch Executive Secretary, Mr Lenox Mshila has encouraged teachers in Taita Taveta to join the union.
This comes after their employer Teachers Service Commission (TSC) reopened the Third Party TPAY portal where teachers can visit to rejoin or exit the unions and associations of their choice.
According to Mshila, members are encouraged to take this golden chance and join the union and associations of their choice which is fair and if they delay, the session may be closed and forcing them to pay for the agence fee which is a bit high compared to that of the union.
“We are encouraging our members to take this chance and join the union. Joining through the portal is fair and convenient to teachers as the percentage of agency fee is high compared to that of the union,” said Mshila.
“Members who were previously in the union, claiming that they have been removed by the TSC have the chance to rejoin the union,” he added.
Currently, over 10 teachers have already joined the union shortly after TSC opened the portal, which according to Mshila shows the trust members have for their new Knut leadership.
Meanwhile, according to Mshila, there’s glimmering light at the end of the day and Knut will regain its vibrancy as normalcy is being realized.
He reiterated that there is a positive change in the union’s membership in the region as there is a good number of teachers who have shown interest in joining the union within the short period after electing new leaders.
He urged the employer that it would have been easier and good if they adopted the 2019 membership register automatically instead of the long process.
“It would have been easier and good if TSC could have adopted the 2019 membership register automatically instead of the long process and let teachers decide whether to exit or remain in their unions,” stated Mshila.
“It’s time TSC deliberately reconciled with KNUT in order to boost the teachers’ morale, most of whom feel they were discriminated against and living like orphans,” he added.
