Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Unions defy Ruto and set stage for strike in schools

Kuppet set for strike Tuesday as Ruto asks unions to seek talks over pay dispute

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Mr Sossion said the union was ready for another boycott to push for the fulfilment of the remaining allowances. PHOTO/FILE
Mr Sossion said the union was ready for another boycott to push for the fulfilment of the remaining allowances. PHOTO/FILE  NATION MEDIA GROUP
By JEREMIAH KIPLANG’AT jkiplangat@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, June 17   2013 at  23:30
IN SUMMARY
  • Kazungu Kambi names Labour official to mediate pay dispute between teachers and employer
  • The government will honour the agreement reached with university staff and Sh1.8 billion will be provided” 
    Deputy President William Ruto
The strike called by one teachers’ union is expected to start in public schools on Tuesday despite efforts by senior government officials to stop the industrial action called to protest against pay.
Deputy President William Ruto convened an urgent meeting with Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi and top Treasury and education officials to find a way to pre-empt the strike called by the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), which is expected to start later on Tuesday.
After the meeting, Mr Ruto urged the teachers’ and lecturers’ unions to engage the government to find a lasting solution to their salary demands.
He also directed the Teachers Service Commission to hold talks with the Kenya National Union of Teachers, which is yet to set a date for its strike but whose officials said they had exhausted all avenues for dialogue.
The Deputy President also promised lecturers the Sh1.8 billion they have been demanding. A lecturers’ strike is planned to start on July 1.
“The government will honour the agreement reached with university staff and Sh1.8 billion will be provided. There is no need for them to continue planning the strike as their funds will be available as agreed,” Mr Ruto said.
Last evening, however, Kuppet defied the request not to go on strike and told its members to stay away from classrooms today. Kuppet chairman Omboko Milemba said the union had not called off the strike.
“We are urging our members to remain at home until the National Governing Council meets to decide the way forward,” Mr Milemba said. According to him, the dispute between the union and TSC was yet to be resolved.
Later yesterday, Cabinet Secretary for Labour Kazungu Kambi asked Kuppet officials to call off the strike after meeting them in his office. He said he had appointed Assistant Labour Commissioner P.W. Macharia mediator between the union and TSC in a move to prevent the boycott.
In a related development, Knut officials said they had exhausted all avenues for dialogue and were just waiting for members’ allowances to be increased.
Led by chairman Wilson Sossion, Knut officials told a press conference at the union’s offices in Nairobi that its leaders would meet to set a date for a national strike to protest against the failure by the government to allocate money to raise their allowances as agreed in 1997.
“All governments are the same. They never listen. They wait for a crisis and if that is what they need we will definitely give them in style,” Mr Sossion said.
“We presented our grievances to the Teachers Service Commission, the parliamentary Education and Budget committees but they did not factor in our requests.”
Mr Sossion insisted that Knut leaders were ready to call a strike “anytime from now” but said its National Executive Council will first meet to clear the way for the boycott. He declined to say when the executive council would meet.
Secret weapon
“The NEC meeting is a secret weapon for us. We will not tell you the date but it will be soon,” he said.
Legal Notice 534 of 1997 — which tasked the government to increase teachers’ hardship, special, house, medical and commuter allowances — has been the bone of contention between the union and previous governments.
So far, six national strikes have been called to push the government to honour the notice but to date only hardship and special allowances have been increased.
Mr Sossion said the union was ready for another boycott to push for the fulfilment of the remaining allowances. “The legal notice shall never be swept under the carpet by anybody. We have been on strike six times since 1997 (over this notice) and we are prepared for the seventh and the last one. As teachers we are ready for the next battle,” he said.
The least paid teacher earns Sh3,000 as house allowance, Sh954 for medical and Sh1,001 as commuter allowances.
However, according to the notice the allowances should go up to Sh8,346, Sh3,338, and Sh4,000 respectively.
The union disowned the Kuppet strike planned for Tuesday, saying it was not party to it.
“The only person to communicate any action is the Knut secretary-general. We are asking them to ignore any other communication from anyone else,” said Knut acting secretary general Xavier Nyamu.
“We are not going to accept the teachers to continue living in carton houses or single rooms for Sh2,000 while they have a legal notice giving them more money to move to better houses,” said Mr Nyamu.

Additional reporting by Maryanne Gicobi

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