TSC-Kuppet Strike Resolution Filed in Court, Negotiations To Continue.
Despite a segment of teachers across the country expressing fury at the cancellation of their boycott over what they called a “raw deal,” the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and post-primary teachers have filed the agreement in court, ending a nationwide strike.
TSC and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) filed a consent decree at the Labour Court on Wednesday, promising to resolve outstanding issues through negotiations. Justice Anna Ngibuini Mwaure then approved the consent and issued a court order.
TSC and Kuppet also agreed to withdraw the lawsuits and countersuits they had brought against each other. Two days after the parties declared the end of a teachers’ strike that started on August 26, 2024, they filed the agreement.
Mixed reactions.
Teachers responded differently to the news that the strike would end. Some of them chastised their union leadership for calling off the job boycott without reaching a meaningful agreement. However, Secretary-General Akello Misori asserts that consent, now a court order that both parties must follow, is superior to a return-to-work formula.
Speaking in Mombasa, Mr. Misori justified his decision to call off the strike, stating that TSC has addressed the majority of the complaints expressed by Kuppet.
“We have a few leaders who claim they were unaware of the meeting resolutions. He expressed his shock, pointing out that we have a communication channel and have addressed the issues that led us to go on strike.
Francis Atwoli, the Secretary-General of the Central Organization of Trade Unions (Cotu), accompanied him and defended Kuppet’s national leaders.
Mr. Atwoli stated that Cotu was fully aware of the talks and urged those claiming that Kuppet acted without their approval to respect the decisions made on their behalf by their leaders. He emphasized that it was not possible to have a return-to-work formula while continuing with the strike.
The court document includes all of Kuppet’s issues prior to the strike, as well as their current stages of resolution. The court document identifies TSC as the petitioner, Kuppet as the respondent, and the Ministry of Labour as an interested party.
Glaring omission of JSS teachers.
A noticeable omission from Kuppet’s original list of demands is the confirmation of permanent terms for 46,000 junior school teachers now engaged on short-term contracts.
Mr. Misori reported that the Commission maintained it lacked the authority to provide a binding commitment, as Parliament had not allocated the necessary funds.
He expressed opposition to the informalization of the teaching service, criticizing the employment of fully qualified and registered teachers as interns, calling it a bad labor practice.
He also noted that it violated the 1966 ILO/UNESCO Recommendation on Teachers Status. Mr. Misori stated that he would discuss the issue with President William Ruto after his return from China.
The implementation of Phase II of the 2021-2025 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) ranks first among the grievances settled. Teachers received a pay increase at the end of August, which included July arrears.
According to the paper, TSC has remitted all statutory and third-party deductions from teachers’ pay and initiated a review of the contentious career development criteria.
After teachers complained about service providers turning them away, TSC reinstated financing for their medical scheme. The TSC must also not victimize any teacher for participating in the strike.
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Although Kuppet had requested the rapid promotion of 130,000 teachers who had been stuck in the same job categories for too long, they appear to have accepted TSC’s claim that 51,232 instructors had already been promoted.
The Commission committed to promoting additional teachers “as and when Parliament makes available budgetary allocations.”
The parties also agreed to begin discussions for the 2025-2029 CBA after Kuppet submitted its memorandum of proposals to the employer.
TSC-Kuppet Strike Resolution Filed in Court, Negotiations To Continue
