Trouble is brewing over at the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) after news emerged that over 90,000 teachers had pulled out of the union.
Reports by the Standard, on Sunday, revealed that the huge exodus was as a result of the ongoing wrangle between the union and the Teacher's Service Commission (TSC).
The fear of missing out on the current promotions, as well as the looming cuts to recover money paid to KNUT members following the implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), made two years ago, has also been mooted as a huge reason for the mass exit.
Last month, TSC ran a parallel payroll, effectively locking out all the 190,000 KNUT members from the benefits of the CBA signed in 2016.
According to the commission, the move was in compliance with an order issued by Judge Byram Ongaya, that set aside Career Progression Guidelines forwarded in 2017, reverting to the old system of service to guide promotions of all teachers under its payroll.
The long protracted tiff between KNUT and the TSC, also resulted in the deregistration of KNUT Secretary-General, Wilson Sossion, on July 29, 2019.
This move appears to have split the union's leadership right at the centre, with a crisis meeting set to take place next Thursday, to find a way forward.
“We are in a tight corner as a union because we are unable to even run operations at the branches. But we have one last chance to rescue the union from collapse this week during the NEC meeting,” a high-ranking KNUT official divulged to the Standard.
Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and secondary school heads have reportedly openly sided with the TSC, going on to disown KNUT.
