The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) is determined to continue their strike, with Secretary General Akelo Misori stating that they will not back down despite a recent court order issued on Tuesday.
In contrast, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) decided to call off their planned strike at the last moment. Teachers initially intended to begin their industrial action on Monday, August 26, but KNUT opted for a different approach.
Amid ongoing uncertainty in Kenya’s education sector, both KNUT’s Collins Oyuu and KUPPET’s Akelo Misori appeared together in an interview with Spice FM to discuss the differing positions of the two unions.
During the interview, there was a clear tension between the leaders. Oyuu explained that KNUT decided to call off the strike because they had achieved most of their demands through negotiations. He emphasized that it is not always necessary to strike when key issues have been addressed. “When you go to the negotiation table with 10 issues and you’ve scored seven out of 10, do you insist that you must remain there for the other three?” Oyuu questioned. He argued that it could be risky to engage in a strike after securing significant wins.
Misori, however, criticized KNUT for what he perceived as collusion with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC). He questioned why KNUT decided to call off the strike when, in his view, essential issues outlined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) had not been adequately addressed.
Misori explained that during a meeting at the Kenya School of Government, the TSC verbally assured them that funds were available to pay teachers, but KUPPET insisted on seeing an official implementation of the CBA, which did not materialize. He further noted that TSC had requested a joint press statement from the two unions to call off the strike, but KUPPET rejected the request.
One of KUPPET’s major concerns is the lack of promotion for 130,000 teachers, some of whom have been stuck in the same position with the same salary for over a decade. Additionally, the union is pushing for 46,000 other teachers to be confirmed on permanent and pensionable terms. KUPPET remains steadfast in their demand for these issues to be addressed before they consider ending their strike.
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