12,000 teachers who missed old CBA benefits paid

By Roy Hezron

12,000 teachers who are KNUT members and who are among the 16,342 teachers who missed out on the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA) have been paid part of the arrears of the previous CBA they missed out.

Speaking during KNUT’s Special Delegates Conference (SDC) on February 19, 2022 at Moi International Sports Centre in Kasarani, KNUT’s secretary general Collins Oyuu affirmed that they are working on ensuring that the remaining 4,342 teachers who haven’t been paid are paid within the shortest time possible.

“We have already embarked on the process of ensuring that all our teachers who missed out on the Third and Fourth Phases of the said CBA due to the misunderstanding that was witnessed are paid forthwith,” said Oyuu.

Through an agreement between Teachers Service Commission(TSC) and KNUT in 2021 when Oyuu took over the union’s leadership in June 2021 from Wilson Sossion, the over 16,000 teachers who stuck with the union when it was going through troubles  were to be paid their arrears backdated to the two years they missed out on the previous CBA.

The signing of the new 2021-2025 CBA in July 2021, which required the union to review its age-old 1968 Recognition Agreement, seems to have thawed relations between the union and TSC thus culminating into the unlocking of the payments that had been a source of bad blood between the two institutions.  

In one of the interviews with Education News last year, Oyuu confirmed that the affected teachers who missed out on phase three and phase four of the previous CBA were drawn from Grade C1 to Grade D1.

In August 2021, TSC started clearing and paying arrears of phase four of the previous CBA, in an effort to settle  the arrears of the affected teachers. The 2017-2021 CBA was worth Shs 54 billion.

 As a result of the commission’s decision, teachers who benefited are to take home between Shs 81,588 to Shs 247,656 in arrears depending on the teacher’s salary points.

For instance, teachers at Grade B5 as at July 1, 2018 and who were supposed to be promoted to C1, were awarded a salary increment of between Shs 65,316 to Shs 81,588 in arrears as per Phase Four of the CBA.

Those at the highest grade D1 are expected to receive between Shs 186,816 on minimum and Shs 247,656 on maximum in arrears (See table for more details).

Oyuu talked on delocalization and urged teachers who are couples and who have been delocalized to reach out to the union for support in bringing them together since the 2021-2025 CBA encourages teachers who are couples not to be separated.

‘TSC has the mandate to transfer teachers. However, where teachers have come up with genuine reasons for their transfers to be rescinded, we have intervened and they have been assisted. Teachers in similar situations whose appeals haven’t been sorted should forward the same through their branch executive secretaries,’ Oyuu stated.

According to Oyuu, KNUT is getting slots of membership in various Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) Committees, key committees that formulate policies that manage and run the education sector in the country.

He added that the union had lost such slots in the past due to poor leadership hence the current situation shows that there is a cordial, mutual and dependable relationship between the union and the Ministry of Education.

In line with the 2021—2025 CBA, Oyuu noted that they had signed the CBA yet they were aware that the Salaries and Remunerations Commission (SRC) had stopped salary increments in CBAs in  the public sector for  two years.

He also pointed out that they had agreed that the CBA was a live document and that they would review it after one financial year, that is, by July 2023.

“Parliament put aside this advice by SRC and the Legal Notice was withdrawn. The Government has since allocated some money to TSC for salary increment.  We have written to TSC for a meeting so that we can revisit the salary issue in the CBA for the coming financial year.  We are optimistic that we will successfully negotiate this as no CBA should end without salaries,” said Oyuu.

During the conference, elections for positions that were left vacant following the demise of  the union’s National Treasurer Ali Abdi Hussein were conducted.

Kennedy Ondieki Nyamwanda and Sheikh Kullow Mohammed were elected unopposed as the Deputy National Treasurer and Assistant National Treasurer respectively.

Nur Mohammed Bardad, Wajir Branch Executive Secretary was elected as a NEC member to replace Mr Kullow from North Eastern region.

The issue of bad relationships between KNUT and TSC began in 2019, when TSC for the first time, prepared two payrolls for teachers. Teachers who didn’t belong to KNUT were factored in the implementation of phase three of the CBA which fell due on July 1, 2019 and their July pay slips reflected the pay rise as per the CBA.

The payroll for KNUT members didn’t  factor in Phase three of the CBA  because the Court ordered that their terms be based on the Schemes of Service and not CPG, which to a large extent affected some 103,624 teachers who included Head teachers, Deputy Head teachers and Senior teachers.

As a result of the court ruling, KNUT members lost all the benefits embedded in CPG as an implementation tool for the CBA.

In addition, reversal of grades and full recovery of the previously enhanced salaries and allowances since July 1, 2017 was effected by the Commission.

In search of a share of promotions and pay rise, teachers started to move out of KNUT.

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