After the government indicated that it might not honour the 2021-2025 CBA owing to budgeting constraints, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has now issued a 7-day strike notice.
The strike is almost sure to happen if an agreement is not reached before this notice elapses, as there seems to be no respite since the government has to make-do with the cut budgets occasioned by the rejection of the Finance Bill 2024.
Secretary General Akello Misori, addressing the press, called for the immediate disbursement of funds, urging the government to respect the CBA that the two parties signed.
He accused the government of superfluous expenditure on projects that are banal, forgetting that it has to pay teachers, dismissing the belief that the withdrawal of the Finance Bill must affect teachers.
“KUPPET rejects the notion perpetuated through the media that these projects have been affected by the withdrawal of the Finance Bill 2024,” Misori stated, ripping into MPs’ pretence that they do not want their salaries to be increased yet they get perks way above what they are declining.
“MPs claim they don’t want a salary increase, yet their total compensation is nearly 1.5 million. Meanwhile, teachers earn only a fraction of that,” he said.
KUPPET also is demanding that all 46,000 intern teachers working in JSS be employed on a permanent and pensionable terms by the start of next month.
KUPPET’s move is apparently informed by Teachers Service Commission (TSC) revelation that they are in a tight spot to employ teachers.
Appearing before the National Assembly’s Education Committee this week, TSC CEO Dr Nancy Macharia said the teacher promotion that was anticipated, as well as employment of JSS teachers, will not happen because of the budget cuts.
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