- In 2019, Knut's membership plummeted to 15,000 from a high of 187,471 while Kuppet's numbers soared to 109,000.
- Over the years, TSC has been collecting teacher’s deductions directly from their salaries and channelling them to the Unions on a monthly basis.
Image: MATHEWS NDANYI
The Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers could soon be pushed to the edge after it emerged that TSC has allegedly moved to starve the union of members’ contributions.
Over the years, TSC has been collecting teacher’s deductions directly from their salaries and channelling them to the Unions monthly.
Members’ deductions are the biggest source of funding for unions with the latest move by the Teachers Service Commission expected to hit Kuppet hard amid the ongoing strike.
The developments come at a time when the union could rely on such deductions to facilitate its mobilisation costs including providing logistics to grassroots officials leading the strike.
TSC swiftly moved to pay teachers their full salaries and allowances for August without deducting union contributions in a move seen as likely to cripple Kuppet.
The resolution to stop the collection would make it difficult for the teachers’ unions to get the money directly from its members thus crippling their operations.
The teachers’ employers started paying salaries under the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement on Thursday with the enhanced pay backdated to July 1.
The government released Sh13.5 Billion to facilitate the implementation of the CBA as part of its commitment to resolving issues raised by teachers.
Several Kuppet branch officials confirmed that the August payslips for teachers were allegedly issued without the usual union dues deductions.
This is the latest in a series of conflicts between the TSC and Kuppet after the employer moved to court to compel the union to call off its strike that has entered the fifth day.
Union officials claim that TSC's failure to pay union dues is a deliberate attempt to sabotage them and deflate its capacity to even hire lawyers in the ongoing court case.
With the August deductions not effected in the Kuppet members’ payslips, the union risks going for months without resources with the TSC case slated for hearing on September 5.
“If the dues are being withheld, union members would need to find alternative ways to support the organisation if they want a strong union," Kuppet secretary general Akello Misori said.
Kuppet, which has 34,000 members, collects about Sh35 million a month to enable it to run its branches, pay staff salaries and cater for operational costs like lawyers’ fees.
Both Kuppet and Knut collect about Sh2 billion annually as membership fees from the teachers across the country at the rate of 1.8 per cent and two per cent of basic salary respectively.
In 2021, Knut was missing from the list by the Ministry of Labour of unions allowed to collect dues from members as the state moved to cripple the union.
At the time, Kuppet was given the green light to collect Sh300 monthly from its members according to a legal notice.
The Labour Relations Act of 2007, provides that TSC remits the Kuppet union deductions from its employees affiliated to the union within 10 days.
Kuppet had greatly benefitted from mass defections of teachers from Knut at the time when the government’s relationship with the latter union had deteriorated.
In 2019, Knut's membership plummeted to 15,000 from a high of 187,471 while Kuppet's numbers soared to 109,000.
On Friday, Kuppet called on its members to continue with the strike calling out TSC for allegedly seeking to silence the voice of union members.
TSC has asked Kuppet to call off the strike before any talks can begin.
Kuppet said TSC had shown bad faith by trivialising the strike and issues raised by teachers through court orders which the secretary general said have been misinterpreted.
“We will not negotiate out of fear. TSC must understand that this is not a trivial matter The TSC reached out to us informally seeking assurance of our seriousness, which is why we formally wrote a letter and sought a meeting. However, it became clear to us that their intent was to blackmail us," the SG said.
The labour court had on Tuesday declared the strike illegal.
"Pending hearing and determination of the application inter parties, an order of temporary injunction is granted to the petitioner, restraining the respondent, its officials, members and employees from withdrawing labour or participating in industrial action," the court said.
He set the mention date for the matter on September 5, 2024.