The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary General Collins Oyuu on Sunday announced that the union had called off the teachers' strike which was set to begin on Monday.
The Secretary General in a press conference therefore directed teachers affiliated with KNUT to report to schools for the third term following the withdrawal of the strike notice.
Oyuu, in the presser, communicated that the decision had been reached after extensive deliberations by the union's National Executive Council (NEC). However, Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET's) NEC at the same time insisted that the strike was still on.
"The NEC has, therefore, today August 25, 2024, agreed to withdraw the strike action notice which was elapsing midnight August 25, 2024, since we have commenced addressing the remaining matters administratively," Secretary-General Collins Oyuu announced.
"In light of the latest developments, we direct our teachers to resume duty effective Monday, August 26, 2024," he added.
While giving their justification for calling off the planned strike, KNUT stated that although the union had not deviated from the position that the government was addressing the grievances slowly, enough goodwill had been demonstrated to warrant the decision.
Among other pressing issues, KNUT demands included the permanent employment of 46,000 Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers and promotion of 130,000 teachers.
While announcing the strike, KNUT had demanded the government address various issues including the immediate implementation of the second phase of the 2021/2025 amended Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed between the Teachers' Service Commission and the union.
KNUT also demanded the immediate remittance of the third-party deductions accrued to their respective organizations.
In the build-up to the decision to call off the strike, TSC agreed to cave into some of the demands presented by KNUT including agreeing to promote some 51,232 teachers. The process of implementing the amended CBA, however, is still in the works.
"We assure our members that the union is committed to resolve the matters herewith, failure to which we shall revert to the initial position since the strike notice has only been withdrawn," KNUT stated.
Meanwhile, KUPPET's NEC had earlier on Sunday given the green light for the strike to proceed as planned after 68 members unanimously voted in favour of proceeding while 2 dissented.
On August 13, Labour Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua met with KNUT officials in a bid to avert the strike where he asked the teachers' representatives to shelve the strike.
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