KNUT and KUPPET officials disagree about the teachers’ strike in a live interview.
On Friday, August 30, Kenyans witnessed an uncommon sight: a live on-air confrontation between the secretary generals of the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET).
Despite a court injunction on Tuesday, Teachers Union KUPPET Secretary General Akelo Misori insisted that the strike would go on. The union has refused to back down from its industrial action.
Meanwhile, teachers had originally planned to stop working on Monday, August 26, but KNUT abruptly called off their strike.
In an interview with Spice FM, Collins Oyuu of KNUT and Akelo Misori of KUPPET Secretary General were brought together to discuss the differences between the two sister unions amid a great deal of uncertainty in the Kenyan education system.
As was to be expected, the two leaders traded barbs, with Oyuu claiming that KNUT abandoned industrial action because some of the combined demands of the two unions had been satisfied.
He continued by saying that when the union decided to end their strike, they also held the wellbeing of the students in mind.
“When you go to the negotiation table with 10 issues and you’ve scored seven out of 10, do you insist that you must remain there for the other three?” he said. “it is dangerous to engage in strike action when you have achieved key issues.”
Misori charged KNUT of conspiring with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) as soon as he entered the interview.
The Secretary General of KUPPET questioned why, in spite of TSC’s refusal to address certain basic concerns raised in the Collective Bargaining Agreement, KNUT decided to end their strike.
At the Kenya School of Government, we held a meeting. Although the TSC verbally assured us that they had the funds to pay teachers, we at KUPPET were hoping for an official CBA implementation. It wasn’t present,” Oyuu clarified.
The TSC requested that the two unions issue a joint press release ending the strike, but the KUPPET Secretary General said that they had declined the request.
Misori is particularly concerned about the TSC’s lack of response about the 130,000 teachers who, in some cases, have remained in the same post and get the same compensation for more than ten years.
In addition, 46,000 additional teachers must be confirmed on permanent, pensionable terms, according to the union.
KNUT and KUPPET officials disagree about the teachers’ strike in a live interview.
