Primary School teachers protest TSC’s deductions

Primary schools teachers who are not members of Knut were deducted the union agency fee in the August salary that was released on Monday.

The Primary school Teachers are protesting a decision by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to deduct them agency fees for an agreement that did not have monetary benefits.

The deduction has caused acrimony, with some tutors in unions pushing to exit the outfits. The deductions for the non-Knut members came as a shock to more than 150,000 primary school teachers who exited the union in June 2019, hoping to get promotions and salary increments.

The deductions also affected teachers who had not joined the union before. Knut membership stands at 15,000 down from 187,000 it used to have before June 2019. Knut deputy secretary-general Hesbon Otieno confirmed that deduction of agency fee was effected in last month’s salary.

“Primary school teachers who are not members of the union have been deducted the fee,” said Mr Otieno.

The release of the agency fee is a big win for the new Knut leadership, which promised to restore its relationship with the teachers’ employer. Initially, Knut used to receive more than Sh144 million monthly from TSC as union dues. But the money went down to less that Sh20 million causing executive secretaries and union staff to go without salaries for months.

Last month, Knut and TSC signed an agreement for demarcation of membership, excluding them from representing post-primary teachers.

The agreement also showed that the Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (Kuppet) will represent teachers in secondary schools while the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) will represent teachers in special needs schools. The unions 2021-2025 CBAs were deposited in the Labour Relations Court on Friday last week making them legal documents. This comes even as some teachers claim to have been forced to back to Knut without their consent after leaving the union two years ago.

Others in secondary schools and those with special needs claim to have been moved to Kuppet and Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet) without their approval.

In an online campaign, a section of teachers are calling for a stop to deduction of the union’s agency fee. They are advising teachers to click stop union deductions button on the “to pay” section on TSC website.

The campaign is also asking teachers to click an exit button to leave Knut and Kuppet. The protesting teachers say they cannot continue paying agency fees and union deductions based on the non-monetary Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) signed by unions in June.

The new war is likely to see the union lose members even as a splinter, the National Education Union (Kenya), which began popularising its agenda in June also began asking teachers to join it, awaiting its registration by the Registrar on Trade Unions. Mr. Peter Bosire and Mr. David Musembei, among other teachers, are behind the union.

“Our clients are desirous of recruiting more than 300,000 teachers in both private and public learning institutions,” reads the letter from their advocate Mr Salim Omar.  The splinter union sought to be issued with a certificate of registration in line with labour relations Act No.14 of 2007.

Knut charges 2 percent of the basic salary agency fee, Kuppet 1.8 percent, and Kusnet charges 1.45 percent.

Kusnet secretary-general James Torome said nothing will stop unions from receiving agency fees from none members benefiting from the recently signed CBA.

“It is a requirement of the law for teachers who are not members of a union to pay agency fees,” said Mr Torome

A court in Kisumu recently did not issue orders stopping the deduction of agency fees from teachers after two tutors filing a case against the unions and the TSC. The case is still pending.