TSC appeals teachers pay hike

The Teachers Service Commission (TSC) has moved to the Court of Appeal, under a certificate of urgency, protesting a ruling by the Labour Relations Court giving teachers a 50 – 60% pay rise.

TSC argues that it was not party to any consent on the issue as they did not sign any agreement.

TSC now says the judge, Nduma Nderi, was out of jurisdiction in determining teachers’ pay since it (TSC) has a committee mandated to deal with teachers’ remunerations.

The commission further argues that the judge is only mandated to oversee the negotiations and not determine what teachers should be paid.

The teachers’ employer says they were ready to negotiate with teachers before the court made the ruling.

The appeal is being heard by a three judge bench led by Justice Mohamed Warsame despite the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) seeking his disqualification from hearing the case on the basis that he has been involved in salaries negotiations before, hence his presence in the bench might influence the outcome of the matter.

The Employment and Labor Relations Court had earlier ordered the government to give teachers a basic salary increment of 50 – 60% from July 1^st, 2013 to June 30^th, 2017 which was blatantly brushed away by TSC.

TSC demanded that the teachers ought to go through a salary review process just like other public servants before their pay is reviewed as it could not afford the cost of the increment which would cost an additional Ksh 70 billion.

Teachers have been given till Thursday to file their response in relations to TSC claims.