By Bell Pere
Amidst much opposition by other unions the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) has finally been recognized by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as the third teachers union.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) will allow them to collaborate with its now new employer regarding various matters and challenges faced by special needs education teachers.
“The Commission hereby affords full recognition of the union as the body representing interests of special needs education teachers in the employment of the Commission and who are paid up members of the Union and teachers with special needs in the employment of the Commission and who are paid up members of the union,” read the recognition agreement between TSC and Kusnet.
KUSNET Secretary General James Torome who was quite pleased by the move said that the recognition did not come easily because of the opposition he faced politically and from sister unions.
“The journey has not been easy as you may think. I have really gone through a lot to be where I am today,” he added.
Recalling some of the challenges such as being blacklisted by national media houses, being taken to court for nitty gritty issues and getting members to support on the agreement was an uphill task.
During an exclusive interview, Mr. Torome recalled at one point where former Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Chairman Mudzo Nzili, chased him out of an executive meeting citing him as a stranger before the board.
He remembers of the commotion he caused at the meeting where he was allowed to attend with spiteful eyes gazing at him.
“There was no way I could have left that allowance meeting. They were negotiating for a ten thousand special duty allowance for teachers, how could I have left that on the table,” he laughed.
The recognition has so far caused a significant loss for KNUT. Since the deal was brokered by Torome and his team, KNUT has lost over thirty thousand of its members which has reflected an over fifteen million revenue loss by the union.
This was much attributed to the agreement which allowed teachers to move into the union with no penalties.
“The union undertakes that no teacher will be compelled to become a member of the Union and the Commission undertakes that no teacher will be penalized on account of his/ her membership to the union or non-membership thereof”, part of the agreement reads.
Mr. Torome also recalled how he had to rally teachers into joining his union. Part of the recognition needed a significant 51 per cent of all members to agree on being recognized. This meant that over nine thousand teachers from KUSNET had to come on board.
Mr. Torome who is a teacher by profession says that the journey for the triumph of KUSNET has been quite rough.
He started off as a teacher at Olaimutia Primary School in Narok West and later he was transferred to Nairegia Enkare Primary School.
“After Nairegia Enkare, I was transferred to Sintakara Primary school where I pitched the idea of having a special needs union for teachers after realizing that their needs were not met,”
He remembers being chased away by Sintakara’s school head teacher who used the District Officer to ensure he would never step at the school premises again.
In 2011 Mr. Torome registered the union through the Labor Board with him as the first member; it took some time to gather more members.
Currently the union has over ten thousand members a number that is constantly increasing due to the recognition by TSC.
Mr. Torome also disclosed that his union has been receiving massive financial support from Central Organization of Trade Union (COTU).
He says that he hopes to have forty seven branches across the country and at least integrate with international bodies such as International Labor Organization, EDU Africa and others.
The union was formed to agitate for all special needs education (SNE) matters, such as; advocacy for better employment terms and conditions for SNE teachers, reaching out to SNE learner’s parents as key stakeholders in the endeavor of promoting SNE in Kenya and responding to challenges in SNE.
