Pay Rise Row: Kenya’s Teachers Service Commission Justifies Non-Cash Offer To Teachers

Kenya’s Teachers Service Commission has defended its non-monetary counteroffer to the teachers unions, saying it is the only deal they can afford in the prevailing economic situation.

The Commission’s Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia said the 2021-2025 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) was not only about monetary gains, but also about conditions of service for teachers.

Macharia said while she appreciates the right of the unions to decline the offer, they should also consider the economic situation the country finds itself in and the fact that she could not offer what she did not have.

The Commission head said the agency is committed to providing an outstanding working and professional environment for all the 330,671 teachers in its employment.

She said over the past eight years, the commission has embraced open dialogue as a means of managing industrial relations in the teaching service, adding that is how the commission was able to carry out reforms to ensure the teaching sector remains professional, peaceful and free from industrial disharmony.

Macharia said their counteroffer to the unions was based on an advisory from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and that the commission’s proposal had factored in the economic impact of the Covid-19 fiasco.

The SRC gave an advisory on June 17, 2021 that there would be no pay reviews for the basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid in the public sector in the financial year 2021/2022 to 2022/2023.

Macharia said the negotiations they had with teachers at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel were based on the understanding that the basic salary, annual increments, allowances and benefits teachers are currently getting would be maintained.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET) have rejected TSC’s counteroffer and threatened to paralyse learning when schools reopen for first term.

KUPPET Secretary-General Akelo Misori said the union would use all means including the judiciary to challenge the legality of the SRC position blocking public-sector salary reviews for two years.