Union Secretary Generals Wilson Sossion and Akello Misori together with their legal team presented the 31-page memorandum detailing the same demands they have been agitating for.
This came as teachers resumed teaching after a two-week strike which has crippled activities in public schools which had just re-opened following the December holiday.
“The last negotiated increment on basic pay enjoyed by teachers dates back to 1997, pursuant to Legal Notice No.534 of 1997, which was implemented over a span of 10 years, ending in 2007. However there have been arbitrary non-negotiated increments in the name of harmonization of teachers’ salaries with those of civil servants,” read part of the memorandum.
Presently, P1 teachers earn a minimum of Sh16,692 and a maximum of Sh24,304 but the unions propose that the same teachers should earn a basic salary of not less than Sh58,863 with the maximum pegged at Sh68,355.
In the document, the aggrieved parties justified their demands of the increase in basic salary by acknowledging its importance in borrowing and calculation of pension and terminal benefits and in determining one’s earning capacity.
READ: Teachers due back in class Monday as strike ends
The unions also took issue with the fact that their employer, the Teachers Service Commission had increased pay for its staff while other government institutions had also reviewed staff salaries yet teachers had been ignored.