Teachers to stay longer before Treasury implements CBA

Teachers will keep off schools starting next week where learning was to resume for third term.

Teachers will however stay longer before getting their benefits from the 2021-2025 (Collective Bargaining Agreement) CBA.

The government is planning to woe teachers unions to call off the teachers strike so it can give it time to source funds to implement the CBA agreement.

Though President William Ruto directed the Treasury and TSC to dialogue with teachers unions, Knut and Kuppet, in order to avert the planned strike, it has emerged that implementing the sh 13.3 billion second phase of the CBA will not happen soon.

Ruto had said it was important to avert disruption of the school calendar and directed the Treasury to engage with TSC and teachers’ unions to avoid unnecessary industrial action.

“That engagement is going to happen and I ask all the stakeholders to work together for the interests of our children respecting what is due to the teachers,” Ruto said.

He said stakeholders must sit together to look at the possibilities of implementing government commitments to avoid strikes in institutions.

However the Treasury Cabinet Secretary (CS) John Mbadi has said that they have to raise additional sh 150 billion in order to address issues bedeviling some sectors among them teachers matters.

The CS said they have identified forty seven areas, in the annulled Finance Bill 2024, to raise revenue that will solve critical problems facing the government.

Mbadi said they will take a fresh proposal to Parliament so they can get the monies to meet the demands including confirmation of 46,000 intern teachers.

The new CS Education, Julius Migos, had said he will talk with teachers so that they can defer the CBA implementation given the current economic situation of the country.

Both teachers unions have given the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) a notice to address six concerns failure to which their members will down tools from August 26

The unions have demanded full implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA. They have also listed other demands

On 28^th August, 2023, TSC signed the 2021-2025 CBA with KNUT, KUPPET and KUSNET.

The Commission was to get the CBA funding through the 2024 Finance Bill which was unsuccessful.

The Treasury then proposed budget cuts and TSC was affected with key areas including CBA implementation being omitted.

The agreement reviewed the remuneration payable to teachers which is to be implemented in two phases. The first phase was implemented on 1^st July 2023.

The second phase was to be implemented on 1^st July 2024. Teachers were to get salary changes in their July 2024 payslips but this did not happen.

However there are hopes after President Ruto ordered TSC and Treasury to come up with solution to avert the teachers strike.

In the agreement the House allowance rates shall be paid as categorized in four clusters. Cluster 1: Nairobi City Cluster 2: Mombasa, Kisumu and Nakuru Cities, Nyeri, Eldoret, Thika, Kisii, Malindi and Kitale municipalities. Cluster 3: Other former municipalities. Cluster 4: All other areas.

In the agreement the House allowance rates for Clusters 1, 2 and 3 were retained. However, Cluster 4 rates were reviewed to be implemented in two phases.

The first phase was factored in the August 2023 payroll with arrears backdated to July 1, 2023.