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By Simon NdongaNairobi — The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has termed a letter by the National Treasury Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich that ruled out a pay hike for teachers before June as inconsequential.
Speaking to Capital FM News, Secretary General Wilson Sossion indicated that an agreement of the basic salary was an important component of a collective bargaining agreement which was the main topic of discussion in the ongoing negotiations.
He pointed out that the announcement by the CS was in total contradiction of the ongoing salary negotiations and pointed out that the unions and the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had resolved that the matter of allowances be shelved until discussions on basic pay are complete.
"We are not dealing with the National Treasury. As you know, one cannot convene a CBA without putting an offer on the table. You cannot have a collective bargaining agreement without basic salary being a component of discussions," he said.
His sentiments were echoed by KNUT's National Chairman Mudzo Nzili who stated that teachers will not relent in pressing for what was due to them.
"We shall continue pressing on and we shall not relent. Remember, we have not demanded that our money be given to us this month. That is a misconception by the government. What we want is a commitment that at some point in time, we will be given our dues," he stated.
The two unions have had six meetings at the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) headquarters, but the teachers' employer has not made any counter-offers to the demands by the unions which now want an increase of around 150 percent, down from 300 percent.
KNUT and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET also want commuter allowances for teachers to match those earned by civil servants at 10 percent of teachers' basic pay.
The unions also came down from their push for responsibility allowances by some five percentage points.
The Government withdrew a Sh50 billion offer tabled after protests by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
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