KNUT, Kuppet feeling pinch of TSC snub

Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has turned down the service of collecting remittances on behalf of Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet).

The implications of TSC’s move could be dire for the unions which depend solely on teachers’ deductions to run its operations.

Over the years, TSC has been collecting teacher’s deductions directly from their salaries and channelling them to the Unions on monthly basis.

The resolution to stop the collection would make it difficult for the teachers’ unions to get the money directly from its members thus crippling their operations.

The move will likely jeopardize the unions financially, with serious consequences for teachers’ right of representation and their ability to negotiate with their employer.

Counties union offices are likely to be closed after the unions revealed that they had no money to run them.

KNUT collects about Sh1.6 billion a year translating to Sh135 million monthly from 206,000 teachers, while Kuppet, which has 34,000 members, collects about Sh35 million a month totalling to Sh425 million a year.

The two Unions collect about Sh2 billion annually as membership fee from 240,000 teachers across the country at the rate of two per cent of basic salary.

Figures from TSC show that that about 48,060 teachers are not attached to any union most of them being the school heads because the law does not allow them to enjoy such rights.

KNUT outsources its monthly income from monthly contributions by members, recovery of gratuity from its employees both from head offices and branches and rent from Knut headquarters building.

KNUT has 110 active offices across the country while Kuppet has 47 with both unions majorly relying on membership collections to run their affairs.

On Tuesday, the unions cried foul over the decision by TSC to halt the remittances, noting that activities at the grassroots have stalled for the last three months.

They accused TSC of plotting to frustrate their operations by crippling their financial capabilities.

.However, TSC Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia has disputed the claims by the unions that the commission is out to jeopardise their operations.

KNUT Secretary Wilson Sossion has confirmed that the union’s dues have not been deducted from the teachers’ salaries for October yet teachers have already received their pay slips for the month.

Omboko Milemba, Chairman of Kuppet, also accused TSC violating the Constitution and Labour Laws by not deducting the dues.

Milemba said the commission had decided to paralyze the unions’ financial operations and warned that they would not hesitate to seek legal redress.

“What the commission is doing is unacceptable, unions have employed at least five people in branches and they have not been paid for the last three months. This is unfair,” he said.

In failing to collect the unions’ dues, TSC was adapting a proposal by the Education Cabinet Secretary Jacob Kaimenyi which suggested a direct deduction by the unions on their members’ salaries.

The dispute between TSC and unions escalated in September when the two unions called their members to a strike that lasted five weeks.

The Court of Appeal ordered TSC to pay teachers a 50 to 60 per cent increase in basic pay, dating back to June 2013.

However, the National Treasury said there was no money to pay the teachers.

After a long court battle, the matter was returned to the Court if Appeal which ordered teachers to end their strike while directing TSC not to victimize them.

Court of Appeal is set to make a ruling on November 6 on whether the teachers will get the 50-60 per cent salary increase that they were awarded by Employment and Labour Relations Court.