This archive report was first published on 30 June 2021.
On June 30, 2021, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) tabled a proposal during pay negotiations at the Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi that could see teachers in Kenya miss out on salary increments for the next five years.
The negotiations, which brought together officials from the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), and the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet), were centered around the 2021-2026 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
TSC chief executive officer Dr. Nancy Macharia revealed that the government had frozen any pay increases, citing an advisory from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission that there would be no review of basic salary structures, allowances, and benefits paid to public sector employees in the financial years 2021/2022 and 2022/2023.
Dr. Macharia stated, "The Salaries and Remuneration Commission gave an advisory that there would be in the no review of the basic salary structures, allowances and benefits paid public sector in the financial year 2021 /2022 — 2022/2023."
The TSC then sought to negotiate on other work components while maintaining the current salaries, but this proposal was rejected by KNUT and KUPPET, who argued that it did not contain any monetary gains.
Despite this, the TSC proposed several other benefits, including the fast-tracking of promotions in arid and semi-arid areas and the expansion of maternity leave from 90 days to 120 days.
