Kenya: KNUT demands 20 percent pay raise to cushion teachers from COVID-19 effects

To cushion its members from inflation and COVID-19 effects, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has demanded a pay raise of up to 200 percent, according to a news report by Nation.

In a move likely to jolt the Teachers Service Commission, KNUT secretary-general Wilson Sossion said the lowest raise in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement should be 120 percent, "considering that the government had in 2017 agreed to offer tutors between 50-60 percent increment".

"There should be an annual increment of 5.0 percent of basic salary; house allowance should be increased by 50 percent and accommodation and night allowance by 50 percent of minimum basic salary.

The commuter allowance should be increased by 50 percent, risk allowance by 10 percent, and hardship by 10 percent," Sossion said yesterday.

To push their case, the union wants their employer to immediately begin negotiations for the 2021-2023 CBA. The 2017-2021 CBA, which is scheduled to end on June 30 next year, was signed in October 2016.

Knut has also called for a comprehensive job evaluation for 'classroom tutors' to ensure adequate compensation, with Sossion saying job evaluation was not done well prior to the 2017-2021 deal.