Nurses want redundant SRC disbanded

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 20 – The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has called for the disbandment of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).

The union argues that the commission merely duplicates the roles of the Public Service Commission, the Parliamentary Service Commission, the Teachers Service Commission and the National Police Service Commission and therefore serves no intrinsic purpose.

“Fellows are earning money for doing nothing in this country and then we say salary wage bill. Let the bloated wage bill be reduced by the disbandment of the SRC first and then that money can be diverted to people who actually work,” the union’s General Secretary Seth Panyako demanded.

He said the commissions listed above are the constitutionally mandated employers of those in the public service and therefore the SRC had no business, “meddling,” in their salary negotiations.

“Every time we in the public service try to push pay negotiations that have been going on for years forward, we’re told the SRC has advised against any pay increments until job evaluation is done,” he said.

A process which, KNUN Chairman John Biiy argued, is fundamentally flawed given the SRC is constitutionally mandated to play an advisory not a “dictatorial,” role.

“Article 230 of the constitution mandates them to advise the national and county government on the remuneration and benefits of state officers. Not storm the negotiating table and dictate terms and conditions. Look at what happened when they tried to reduce MPs salaries, PSC won the day,” he said.

Panyako said the union therefore planned to challenge the SRC job evaluation exercise in court on these grounds.

“President Uhuru Kenyatta has inflated their egos and their perception of what their role is. They should not think they’re untouchable. They will soon learn that there are checks and balances to keep the powerful from getting too big headed. They must know their place,” Panyako told Capital FM News.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) had also taken issue with the role of the SRC in their salary negotiations with the TSC accusing it of “meddling.”

The job evaluation exercise, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion argued, should not interfere with their CBA negotiations with TSC. “I mean, it is only fair. Our negotiations preceded this evaluation business.”

About The Author

OLIVE BURROWS

With a decade of storytelling under her belt, Olive Burrows has been with Capital FM for the last four years and perhaps most notably interviewed US President Barack Obama. Committed to asking the hard questions and telling the story in the most engaging way possible, she has also interviewed Melinda Gates, a UK Minister and severally had the opportunity to sit across from President Uhuru Kenyatta and address the pressing issues of the day. Other notables she has had occasion to seek answers from are UN Secretary General António Guterres and John Kerry in his time as US Secretary of State.

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