Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) Secretary Gereral Wilson Sossion has hinted that teachers may not resume duties when schools fully reopen in January.
Speaking in Bomet on Sunday, November 22, the outspoken leader disclosed that the union was left with no choice but to issue a nationwide strike to voice their concerns.
This comes following a fallout between KNUT and Teachers Service Commission (TSC) over disbursement of members' funds.
"When we don't get salaries and our resources to work, the only thing we can think about is war, and we are bringing it over to you (TSC). We have no problem with the government, we have isolated the employer.
"We have been persuaded by key leaders in this country to refrain ourselves from organising our members for strike, but where it has reached, we cannot contain the pressure from our members," stated Sossion.
The Nominated MP stated that the strike will kick off in January when the rest of the students are expected to report back to school.
"We signed a CBA, we have a certificate, but the employer decides unilaterally to blacklist and suspend the CBA and deny our members promotion.
"The narrative that TSC is selling to government is wrong. The only medicine TSC understands is strike. If that is what they want, we shall have no option but to organise for it. Forget about doctors, ours will be the mother of all strikes," he added.
This comes a day after TSC asked the state for an additional Ksh18 billion funding for the scheduled reopening of schools for all students in January.
TSC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nancy Macharia explained that the funds were vital as they sought to recruit more than 12,000 tutors.
TSC and KNUT have, over the recent months, been entangled in a tussle over the Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA) over salary increment of some 150,000 teachers.
KNUT also blamed the commission of causing mass walkouts of its members from the union after the salary raise failed to materialise.
In October 2020, the union received a paltry Ksh25 million payout from the government to cater for its 34,000 membership.
In July 2019, the membership stood at over 187,000 and earned the union Ksh144 million in monthly union payout from TSC.
