Homa Bay ECD teachers issue strike threat over pay cut

Early Childhood Education (ECDE) Teachers in Homa Bay have issued a strike notice if a decision to reduce their salaries is not reversed.

The one-week notice comes after the county implemented the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) recommendations to cut wages.

The teachers told Governor Gladys Wanga to act on their demand before it is too late.

Some teachers in Homa Bay are also reported to have had their employment terms changed from permanent and pensionable to contract, putting them at the risk of missing out on retirement benefits.

The Kenya Union of Pre Primary Education Teachers (Kunoppet), also wants this reviewed and their employment terms reinstated to its original state.

Homa Bay County slashed the salaries of its teachers after the SRC advised governors to do so to save money.

Ms Wanga is among the first governors said to have implemented the directive. Teachers were shocked when their payslip for January showed they got less money than usual.

Most of them said they are not happy with the move and appealed to the governor to reconsider the move.

Speaking during a meeting in Rodi Kopany, Kunoppet National Chairman Lawrence Otunga said the union was not consulted when the changes were being implemented.

He said some of the teachers did not receive their salaries, and received no communication from their employer on what the problem was.

"Some got negative salaries to indicate that all the money was deducted to pay different debts. County public service board was ill advised to review terms of employment for teachers," Mr Otunga said.

At least 1,357 teachers had been confirmed to permanent and pensionable terms and their salaries reviewed, depending on their level of education in the dying days of Governor Cyprian Awiti’s administration last year.

Reduced by almost half

After the review, union representatives said ECDE teachers in Homa Bay with university degrees were getting Sh41,000. However, this has been reduced to Sh23,000 after the SRC recommendation.

Diploma teachers who got Sh33,320, now get Sh19,000, and teachers with certificates are getting less than Sh10,000, down from Sh27,000.

Mr Otunga said the reduction in teachers’ salaries is a violation of labour laws.

"Nobody is ready to listen to teachers and they are always threatened when they try to assemble to address their grievances. When they ask for what is rightfully theirs, police officers are sent to disrupt them," he said.

The union said up to three quarters of its members in the county have been affected after their contracts were revoked or changed.

As part of addressing the situation, the governor appointed Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) Secretary Patrick Were to connect her office and schools.

Kunoppet members, however, opposed the move, saying matters affecting their union cannot be addressed by Knut, as they called on the governor to have a different person from the group to present their grievances.

"There are people who have surrounded the governor and are negotiating on our behalf. It's unfortunate that they do not know what we are going through and therefore they should not talk on our behalf," Mr Otunga said.

The unionist also called on Homa Bay Senator Moses Kajwang to address their plight.

"Some of us applied for loans at different banks when we got permanent and pensionable employment terms. We later got surprised when the same was revoked and we were put on contract basis, which has an impact on loan repayment," said Ms Lucy Atieno, a teacher.

Ms Wanga said her administration will engage the teachers on the correct employment terms. She asked her critics not to introduce politics into the matter.

"We are going to discuss how to address the welfare of our teachers to the best of our ability," Ms Wanga said.

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