During the most recent nationwide elections of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), some teachers in the West Pokot branch were unable to vote because they were classified as agency fee payers rather than union members.
The teachers had travelled long distances from all six sub-counties to exercise their democratic right to vote, and those who voted did so in large numbers, as if they had not voted before.
Those who were on the agency fee were shocked when their names could not be found in the KNUT register, automatically disqualifying them from voting.
To help them cope with their shock, a senior KNUT official from the KNUT head office, Mark Oseno, kept reminding them that they could not vote because of the agency fee.
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“I would wish that you participate in voting, but the agency fee disqualifies you,” he kept reminding them, politely asking them to leave the voting venue.
However, what is this monster called, agency fee to teachers?
An agency fee is a charge deducted from non-union employees who benefit from the CBA.
Moreover, an agency fee is a mandatory deduction imposed on teachers who are not union members but still benefit from salary increases negotiated through the collective bargaining agreement.
The fee covers professional expertise, administrative costs, and representation.
Non-union members covered by the CBA pay a fee of about 1.4 to 2 per cent of their salary for teachers in Kenya to cover representation costs, which is often deducted from their pay slips.
West Pokot teachers are asking how they will pay the agency fee to vote in the next elections.
By Martin Ruto
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