Speaking in Naivasha after the talks hit a stalemate when they failed to agree on the transfer of 85 teachers, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said it had been done in bad faith/FILE
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 4 – The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) is now accusing the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of insincerity in the ongoing negotiations meant to resolve several contentious issues.
Speaking in Naivasha after the talks hit a stalemate when they failed to agree on the transfer of 85 teachers, KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion said it had been done in bad faith.
“While appreciating the recognition of the provision of Article 27 of the Constitution and Section 4 of the TSC Act by the Commission, the same recognition should apply to Article 41 of the Constitution Section 2, 4 (3)(b) of the LRA,” he said.
“It is therefore a matter of right for the officials of the union to be retained in their areas of representation according to the union Constitution and having been registered by the Registrar of Trade Unions,” he noted.
Sossion further stated that this sets a dangerous precedent to the operations and survival of the union and observed that the Commission was applying misleading manoeuvres to avoid discussing the promotion of teachers.
“The union’s take is that the TSC applied diversionary tactics to evade discussing issues on promotions of teachers which had formed the core part of the retreat,” he said.
He expressed the union’s commitment to meet with TSC within the next two weeks to iron out contentious issues.
“The union is committed to harmonious industrial relations with TSC and further reiterate that they are ready to continue with the deliberations in order to resolve the myriad of industrial challenges facing the implementation of the CBA for the period 2017-2021,” he stated.
The Commission’s Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia earlier stated that transfers are inevitable and nothing would change that.
Through a statement, she explained that transfers further ensure that there is an equal distribution of teachers across the country.
She called on the teachers’ union to put the interests of the children first rather than adopt a hard stance on a legal requirement enshrined in the Collective Bargaining Agreement.
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