TSC Salary Rise for Teachers July 2021: Official SRC Response To Teachers’ New CBA 2021-2025 and Pay Increment
Teachers employed by the Teachers Service Commission, TSC have been left mute and dumb after the Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC under the leadership of Lyn Mengich decided to ruthlessly freeze any salary rise anincrease in allowances for all civil servants for the next two years.
For many years now, teachers have been suffering blows after blows not only from their employer but also from the government on matters salary rise.
This is the end of an era ushered in by teachers’ unions which had a voice before and could haggle and bargain on behalf of the teachers for better salaries.
Now that the Teachers Service Commission has succeeded in crippling the unions, especially KNUT by unfairly locking its members out of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement and salary rise, teachers will either bite the bullet or call for industrial action to salvage their payslips.
TSC Proposal on the July 2021 Pay Rise for Teachers
In preparation for the implementation of a new Collective Bargaining Agreement, CBA this year, the Teachers Service Commission proposed a pay rise of 16-32 per cent with classroom teachers who are currently underpaid for their essential services set for higher salary perks at 32 per cent.
School administrators on the other hand who constitute the minority of the teaching work force were warming up to a pay rise of 16 per cent having received their rightful dues in the previous CBA 2017-2021.
Although the teachers’ unions were opposed to the 16-32 per cent salary increment since it was too little given that the Commission was planning to effect it over a long period, four years, it was better than nothing especially for the classroom teachers who were sidelined in the former CBA.
Currently, there exists huge salary disparities between school administrators and classroom teachers engineered by greedy union leaders who were out to look out for themselves during previous negotiations.
This is simply because the Commission had proposed that teachers go for increased allowances in 2017 such as commuter, house and leave allowances.
This would have greatly benefitted the teachers since allowances are not taxable.
Unfortunately, the unions would have been fried since their cut us pegged on the teachers’ basic salaries, not allowances.
This is what necessitated them to accept a bogus CBA that did not benefit the classroom teachers much.
SRC Response on TSC Teachers Salary Rise 2021
The Salaries and Remuneration Commission, SRC recently conducted another job evaluation exercise for teachers which proved the great injustice that was meted on classroom teachers’ pay slips four years ago.
SRC’s findings arrived at the conclusion that classroom teachers were given a raw deal or rather the tail while school administrators had the rest of the cow to devour.
According to SRC, classroom teachers play over 30 roles including classroom management and helping the school administration in the smooth running of the Institutions. These pertinent roles were however not captured in the previous job evaluation exercise in 2016 which birthed the current CBA that expires in June 2021.
Ordinary teachers were therefore awarded the lowest salaries. The latest SRC job evaluation findings had rekindled their hope for better pay but the glorious moment was short-lived now that the Remuneration Commission has freezed pay rise and increase in allowances for all civil servants, teachers included for the next two years citing financial constraints in the part of the government geared by the Coronavirus pandemic and the upcoming general elections that require a lot of money.
All eyes are now trained on the Teachers Service Commission to see what verdict it will give on this stalemate surrounding teachers’ pay rise and what plans the teachers’ unions have got in store for their members.
It will be unfortunate if teachers will be forced to revert to strikes that have dotted the education sector with solidarity songs expressing the great dissatisfaction among the workforce for the better part of the previous decade.
