Teachers unions have rejected a proposal by the Teachers Service Commission to increase their salaries by between 16% to 32%.
The unions have accused TSC of sneaking in a counter-proposal that did not include perks suggested by teachers.
Knut and Kuppet accused the teachers’ employer of rejecting the special school, township and postgraduate allowances.
Kuppet had pushed for a Ksh15,000 allowance for teachers in special schools.
Knut wants the basic pay raised by between 120% and 200% while Kuppet is pushing for a salary increment of between 30% and 70%.
TSC is not convinced on the 50%-70% transport allowance increase and has made a counter offer for a 20% increment.
The commission had proposed that house allowances be increased by 10%. However, Knut sought to have all teachers be paid according to rates in Nairobi.
According to the TSC proposals sent to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, the tutors would get a 20% increase for the commuter, leave and house allowances.
Teachers in Grades C4 to D5 were supposed to get a 16% salary increase on their basic pay while those in Grade B5 to Grade C3 would get a 32% increment in a period of four years.
The unions claimed that TSC’s decision to bypass them and send the proposal to SRC was against the law and demonstration of bad faith.
The discussions were scheduled to take place early in 2020 but the Covid-19 pandemic forced the stakeholders to shelve them.
“Negotiations have not begun. We saw a notification from the SRC trying to jump-start the negotiation, but we can’t take directions from them. We’re waiting for communication from the TSC,” Kuppet secretary-general Akello Misori told the media.
According to the law, TSC is supposed to appoint a committee of 10 members which includes five each from the union and the commission to discuss the proposals.
