Central Organisation for Trade Unions Secretary-General Francis Atwoli has lashed out at President Uhuru Kenyatta saying that he should forget teachers' votes if he failed to pay their salary increment.
Mr Atwoli expressed his disappointment at the President after a meeting between the unions in the current teachers' pay wrangle and President Kenyatta failed to take place on Friday.
“We were eager to meet the President to try and resolve the teachers strike and the impending nationwide strike by other unions in solidarity with the teachers but no meeting took place,” he said.
Atwoli who last week announced that COTU would join teachers in solidarity to demand for the pay increase awarded by court, said their strike notice was still on but all affiliate members of COTU would completely down their tools on Tuesday.
On Tuesday the court is set to decide on a suit filed by the Teachers Service Commission to declare the ongoing teachers' strike illegal.
Most speakers including Atwoli at a COTU meeting on Saturday urged the President to obey the Supreme Court that upheld his election to office and which also supported an earlier decision to award teachers a 50-60 per cent pay hike.
President Kenyatta on Friday said that the government was not in a position to effect the teachers' pay rise adding that it was unsustainable.
Read also: Uhuru Kenyatta Finally Speaks Out On Teachers' Strike
Meanwhile, the Federation of Kenyan Employer (FKE) has cautioned COTU against proceeding with their planned strike terming it illegal.
The teachers strike is now in its second week forcing school children across the country to be sent back home since there is no learning that is taking place.
