TSC News: Official SRC Response on New Teachers CBA 2021-2025 Implementation and July 2021 New Salary Structure for all Teachers
Reprieve as SRC Finally Gives an Official Response to TSC on July 2021 Salary Increment for all Teachers
The Teachers Service Commission recently presented a 16-32 per cent pay rise proposal for the next CBA 2021-2023 upon expiry of the current one on June 30.
In the new TSC Salary Structure, classroom teachers are set to reap big after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC carried out another job evaluation that shed light on the extra roles played by these teachers.
The 2021 SRC job evaluation exercise poked holes on the current CBA exposing the great disconnect between classroom teachers’ roles and salaries paid to them by their employer the Teachers Service Commission.
According to the SRC’s report, the salary paid by TSC to classroom teachers does not commensurate their roles.
In summary, the classroom teachers are underpaid for their services.
This therefore means that the Teachers Service Commission’s new salary structure proposed and tabled before the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC is in line with the 2021 job evaluation findings.
From the look of things, SRC is likely to award classroom teachers the higher salary band in the next CBA 2021-2025 whereas school administrators who encompass principals, heads, deputies, senior masters and senior teachers will get the lower salary band.
Classroom teachers can therefore take a deep breath for now and pray that the Treasury CS Ukur Yatani allocates TSC cash for the 2021/2022 financial year.
This is simply because the Teachers Service Commission cannot implement the next CBA while experiencing cash crunches.
Treasury Response on Teachers’ July 2021 Pay Rise
In March, the Treasury CS decided to put teachers and other civil servants into perspective on what to expect on matters pay rise come July.
According to CS Treasury Ukur Yatani, the government is short of funds following the biting effects of the Coronavirus pandemic that continues to negatively impact on Kenya’s economy.
According to Yatani, civil servants should not wet their appetites for salary increments since the economy is struggling.
The CS’ response was however meet with a lot of opposition emanating from teachers’ unions and even COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli.
According to the unions, a new CollwColle Bargaining Agreement is a necessary evil if there has to be industrial peace in the future.
Already, the unions have beaten the drums of war in preparation for a major go-slow come July if the teachers’ employer fails to give them a counter-proposal to set ground for the 2021-2025 CBA negotiations.
KUPPET’s strike notice stands until TSC changes its stand.
Reinforcing the unions, COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli also accused TSC and SRC of infringing on the teachers’ rights by staggering the current CBA over a longer period-4 years.
According to Atwoli, any CBA should be implemented in two phases only, not four.
Now that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC has promised to give feedback to the Teachers Service Commission, TSC within two weeks that is by June 20, all eyes and ears are trained on Lyn Mengich to see what goodies are in store for teachers especially classroom teachers who suffered a huge blow from the previous TSC Salary structure.
