Court stops teachers' strike

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By PAUL OGEMBA pogemba@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Friday, August 31  2012 at  17:46

IN SUMMARY

• Orders issued following an application by the Teachers Service Commission.
• TSC claims that the strike notice issued by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) was unconstitutional.
• Rights of students and pupils scheduled to sit their final end-year exams more important than the teachers' demands, court rules.

The planned teachers' strike slated for Monday to coincide with the reopening of schools has been stopped.

Industrial Court Judge Pyrum Ongaya issued the orders Friday following an application by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) claiming that the strike notice issued by the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) was unconstitutional.

Justice Ongaya ruled that public interest outweighs individual interests and that the rights of students and pupils who are scheduled to sit their final end-year exams are more important than the teachers' demands.

“An order is hereby issued restraining the teachers’ unions (Knut and Kuppet) and their members from taking part or inciting others to take part in unprotected strike until this application is heard and determined,” ruled Justice Ongaya.

The ruling is a reprieve for thousands of children in public schools who faced the possibility of missing out on classes at the start of next term due to the stand-off between teachers and the government over Sh30 billion in unpaid allowances.

The TSC, through lawyer Allan Sitima went to court under certificate of urgency, claiming that the planned strike by Knut and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (Kuppet) was in contravention of the established dispute resolution mechanisms.

Disrupt learning

He argued that the intended strike would result in grave and unwarranted disruption of learning in all public schools and affect the National Examinations set to begin on September 15 and that the strike would undermine the spirit of Article 53 (2) of the Constitution.

Mr Sitima argued that the planned strike was unconstitutional and it would only be in the interest of justice if it was stopped to safeguard the rights of children to education as provided for by the Constitution.

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According to the lawyer, the intended strike was ill advised as it went against the TSC Act enacted into law a few days ago and which is awaiting establishment of a commission to look into the teacher’s grievances.

“The timing of the strike is in bad faith since it will not only cripple learning in public schools but also delay the full implementation of the TSC Act without any legal justification,” said Sitima.

He submitted that the TSC and the children enrolled in public schools will suffer irreparable loss in the event that teachers withdraw their labour.

The application was supported by the affidavit of TSC Secretary Gabriel Lengoiboni who said that the teachers demand that their salaries be harmonised with those of civil servants was premature since they are in the process of establishing a consultative committee to review their salaries.

“The constitution has established a salary and remuneration commission and to this end we have established a committee which will negotiate with the teachers’ unions to a find a solution for their demands,” said Lengoiboni.

Justice Ongaya directed the TSC to advertise the orders issued on two daily newspapers and serve the teachers' unions for an inter-parties hearing on September 4.