More than 16 000 teachers who who did not quit KNUT during the crisis have reason to smile after the TSC honored its promise to repay their debt, two years that they missed out on in the previous Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Reports indicate that the employer started with Phase Four of the 2017-2021 CBA this August, in an effort to pay off arrears of teachers who were paid their salaries after two years to pay third and fourth grades (2019 and 2020) CBA worth Shs 54 billion.
As a result of this decision, the beneficiary teachers went home between Shs 81,588 to Shs 247,656 in arrears in the August salaries this year depending on the teacher’s salary scale.
For instance , teachers in Grade B5 from July 1, 2018 and who should have been promoted to C1 have been given a salary increase of between Sh 65,316 to Sh 81,588 in arrears according to the fourth CBA category, and those who have achieved the highest Grade C5 will receive between Sh 119,568 to Sh 108,324 arrears.
KNUT General Secretary Collins Oyuu confirmed this and said that about 16 000 teachers started receiving their salaries after August. The fund has started with Phase Four of the CBA 2017-2021 and the third phase will follow.
He further said that arrears will be repaid over the two years of 2019 and 2020 for the affected teachers being transferred from Grade C1 to Grade D1.
The signing of the new CBA for 2021-2025 on July 13, 2021, which required the union to review its 1968 Recognition Agreement, appears to have strained relations between the union and the teacher’s employer and thus opened payments that were a source of bad blood between the two institutions.
KNUT Bomet Branch Secretary General Malel Lang’at, who is also a member of the National Council of the Organization representing the Rift Valley, also confirmed the good news.
“Finally KNUT breathes a sigh of relief, and the teachers who have remained steadfast in the union smile until they reach the bank. All arrears. Kudos’ new party is KNUT, ”said Lang’at.
According to the new CBA now registered with the Employment and Employment Tribunal (ELRC) on August 27, 2021, KNUT has finally agreed that union members will now be promoted in line with the Career Progression Guidelines (CPG) to replace the former Service Scheme (SoS). of the dispute between then-union secretary general Wilson Sossion and the TSC.
To align the terms and conditions of employment and to align the grading structure with the results of the 2016 Job Examination, the parties hereby agree to replace the Teacher Employment Scheme and formally adopt the provisions of the Employment Guidelines in terms of Circular Employer 7 of 2018 dated 2 May 2018.
At the same time, some of the lecturers will be promoted again according to the CPG after missing out on the opportunity when some of their colleagues were promoted during the CBA.
KNUT members will now enjoy a monthly salary increase of between Sh8,000 and Sh15,000 depending on the number of teachers who will be reimbursed for the previous two years (2019 and 2020).
The court case, filed by the TSC marked the beginning of a financial dispute and although the July 12, 2019 decision by Labor Relations Judge Justice Bryam to go to the ELRC was in favor of KNUT, the TSC wisely used the decision to harass KNUT members there.
According to the Commission, the ELRC’s decision required the timing of two corresponding salaries in a timely manner to comply with the Court’s decision without prejudice to non-KNUT teachers.
Remuneration for teachers who were not KNUT members was included in the inclusion of Phase Three CBAs which appeared on July 1, 2019 when their July slips showed salary increases according to the CBA.
The fees paid to KNUT members did not include Phase Three CBA at the time because the Court ordered that their policies be based on Schemes of Service and not CPG, which mainly affected 103,624 teachers including head teachers, Deputy Head Teachers and Senior Teachers.
This has resulted in KNUT members losing all the benefits included in the CPG as a CBA startup tool. In addition, the conversion of marks and the full refund of salaries and allowances had been improved since July 1, 2017 by the Commission. Seeking a share of promotions and salaries, teachers are starting to leave KNUT.
In July last year, some 47,131 teachers who were KUPPET or non-union and who were in work group B5 were promoted by the Commission to group C1 using the CPG of the TSC.