Kenya National Union of Teachers moves to court over strike order

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) want the Employment and Labour relations court to lift restraining orders barring the teachers’ union from implementing its strike.

Appearing before Justice Byron Ongaya, KNUT said they are willing to continue with the conciliatory talks spearheaded by the Labour Ministry if the orders are lifted.

The Teachers’ Service Commission (TSC) had on Monday obtained Prohibitory Injunction orders restraining KNUT from effecting their strike.

TSC argued that the transfer and deployment of 3094 heads of institution was based on a number of variables aimed at improving the standards of education.

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TSC said that a proposal to revoke the transfers brought confusion at a time when the teachers, heads, parents and learners are preparing for the opening of schools on Thursday.

This even as it maintained that all the heads of institution who were either deployed or transferred have handed over or taken over as appropriate adding that a reversal of the transfer would affect their productivity and performance.

But KNUT through its lawyer Paul Muite argued before the court that the move by the teachers’ employer was erroneous insisting on the full implementation of the comprehensible bargaining agreement.

The teachers’ union based its argument on a four point demand comprising of Promotion, transfers, performance contracting system, and the teachers’ development module.

Efforts by the conciliatory committee to mediate between the TSC and KNUT hit a snug with TSC skipping the meeting on Tuesday that was called by the conciliatory committee meant to iron out contentious issues to avert the strike.

KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion maintains that the strike will go on until all issues under contention are addressed.

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