Knut demands full salary increment for teachers amid budget cuts

The Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has declared that its members will not accept anything less than the second phase of the 2.5 percent to 9 percent salary increment awarded in 2023. Any deviation from this increment, according to the union, would be seen as an act of treachery, a breach of contract, and a violation of their labour rights.

Knut expressed strong disapproval over recent budget cuts, emphasizing that such reductions undermine a legally binding agreement signed between the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) and Knut in 2021, which was duly deposited in the Employment and Labour Relations Court.

The union argues that the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which stipulates a 2.5 percent to 9 percent salary increment for teachers, should not be compromised by the National Treasury’s budgetary decisions.

“It has come to our knowledge that despite TSC going to great pains to convince both the Departmental Committee on Education and Research and the Budget and Appropriation Committee why the commission's budget of Sh357,773,737,118 should not be reduced, the National Treasury has indeed gone ahead to cut down the budget by Sh10 billion. The government has whittled down TSC's budget, which certainly would affect the implementation of the second phase of the teachers' CBA,” said Collins Oyuu, Secretary-General of Knut.

This stance comes in response to recent budget cuts imposed by the National Treasury on the TSC, reducing the budget from Sh357.7 billion to Sh347.5 billion. Knut argues that this will undermine the implementation of the 2021/2025 CBA.

The union maintains that such a significant reduction in the budget is a direct violation of the CBA and undermines the agreed-upon increments for teachers. Knut is now calling on the National Treasury to restore the full Sh10 billion to ensure that the CBA is honoured.