25/02/2022
KUPPET PRESS STATEMENT 23TH FEB 2022*
KUPPET TO CONVENE ORGANS ON CBA RE-OPENING TALKS
1. The KUPPET National Executive Board has considered the response by the Teachers Service Commission to our demand for the re-opening of talks on the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement, which we issued on January 17, 2022.
2. Regrettably, the Commissions response does not merit our demand. All the Commission did was to acknowledge our letter and promise to respond substantively at a later stage after interrogating the contents. The 21-day period we gave the Commission has now elapsed without any substantive response being given.
3. In the absence of a clear-cut commitment by the TSC to re-open the talks, the so-called response has caused more uncertainty in the teaching fraternity. The Commission has not addressed the prospects of our members getting their salary review this year, which they deserved during the Third Public Sector Remuneration and Benefits Review Cycle.
4. Upon the expiry of the previous CBA for 2016-2021, our members deserved salary increments under the new CBA as provided under the Constitution of Kenya 2010, the Labour Institutions Act Section 44 (5) and international legal instruments including the Minimum Wage Fixing Convention No. 131 of the ILO (1970), Article 23 (3) of the United Nations (UN) Universal Declaration on Human Rights as well as Goal 8 of the 2030 Global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) on employment and decent work.
5. Using the excuse of slow economic performance due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the government froze salary increments during the Third Public Sector Remuneration and Benefits Review Cycle in 2021. However, as President Uhuru Kenyattta stated in his State of the Nation address, The second quarter of 2021 registered the most impressive growth ever recorded in our nations real GDP. The growth rate of 10.1 percent is the highest ever recorded in one quarter in Kenyas history. It is also the first time Kenya hit a double-digit growth. The last time Kenyas economy got close to this kind of performance was in 2010 during the Grand Coalition Government, when the economy hit an 8.4% growth rate.
6. For the first time in eight years of the Presidents term, the Kenya Revenue Authority has exceeded its revenue collection target despite the COVID stress on the economy. The KRA projected a Sh1.52 trillion collection in tax during 2020, but ended up collecting Sh1.67 trillion, which was in excess of their projected intention. In the last eight years, KRA collected Sh10.8 trillion cumulatively in revenue. This means that in just eight years, KRA has collected the equivalent of Kenyas total GDP. It also means that on average KRA collected Sh1.3 trillion every year, the President noted.
7. In the last quarter of 2020 the government reviewed the salaries and allowances of employees of the Judicial Service Commission, the Parliamentary Service Commission, and county governments who were already among the highest paid cadres in public service. Many private sector employers have recently concluded CBAs awarding employers salary increments.
8. In light of the aforesaid facts, the union is left with no option but to convene our organs to explore all avenues open to us and guide our members in their quest for a salary increment.
9. The Final Memorandum of Demands to the TSC for the 2021-2025 CBA called for, among others:
a. Salary increment of between 30-70 percent for the highest paid and lowest paid teacher respectively. The lowest paid teachers salary should rise from Sh34,955 to Sh59,425 while the highest paid should rise from Sh118,242 to Sh153,715.
b. Commuter allowance to be raised by between 30-70 percent, i.e., from Sh5,000 to Sh8,500 and from Sh16,000 to Sh20,800 for the lowest and highest paid teachers respectively.
c. Leave allowance, which currently ranges from Sh6,000 to Sh10,000 for the lowest and highest paid teachers, should be equivalent to one month salary for every grade.
d. House allowance to be harmonized across all grades, with a township allowance awarded to teachers in urban.
e. Hardship allowance to be increased by 50 percent from the current Sh10,900 to Sh16,350 and Sh38,100 to Sh57,150 for the lowest paid and highest paid teachers respectively.
f. Introduction of risk allowance for science teachers, starting from Sh5,465 for the lowest paid and Sh30,587 for the highest paid.
g. Introduction of overtime allowance for teachers working in boarding schools.
f. Introduction of a post-graduate allowance for teachers who have attained Masters and PhD degrees.
KUPPET KENYA
Platform for Raising Teachers issues in Uasin Gishu Branch
