After meeting President William Ruto at Statehouse to intervene into their cash crunch, Kuppet top brass can now smile after TSC released the union dues for the month of November.

Kuppet has not been receiving union dues since September after it prolonged the teachers strike while Knut had called off theirs and primary school teachers had resumed teaching.

However following the processing of the November salaries, TSC has deducted the union fee together with BBF for onward transmission to the Union .

The Union leaders who have been at odds with teachers nationwide for calling off the September strike without tangible benefits to the teachers, have been estranged and faced grinding of their services.

However the union will suffer one month loss after TSC failed to make deductions on teachers October salaries.

The union secretly agreed to a number of measures that unlocked the union dues remittance.

The union has agreed to support the new proposed medical cover for teachers and civil servants called Public Service Medical Scheme which is set to be rolled out in January.

The union has also agreed to never disrupt learning with strikes that are not blessed by the government agencies.

President William Ruto had early this month met with the Kuppet officials at State House Nairobi over TSC failure to make union dues deductions and releasing to the union.

Present in the meeting which discussed a number of issues affecting the education sector included Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Kuppet officials led by its Chairman Mr Omboko Milemba and Secretary General Akello Misori.

In a statement released after the consultative meeting, Mr Misori indicated that the union briefed the President on important issues in the education sector and the welfare and working conditions of teachers in public service.

“The union sought the President’s support for its current programs, including negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the 2025 – 2029 cycle,” said Mr Misori.

They lauded the government’s gesture of employing a record 51,000 teachers in a single year in 2023, some initially as interns but all now on permanent and pensionable terms.

Appreciating the Teachers Service Commission’s implementation of the Court Consent/Return-to-Work Formula signed between Kuppet and the Commission on September 5, 2024, Mr Misori noted that the employer had delivered on most of its commitments under the Consent.

Among these were full implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA; the confirmation of 46,000 Junior Secondary School teachers into permanent and pensionable positions and provisions for the Teachers Medical Scheme.

Others were the employment of 20,000 new teachers, the repeal of Career Progression Guidelines; and promotion of 45,000 teachers – all within two months of signing the Consent.

“The union appealed to the President to ensure the TSC’s access to more funds for the promotion of all 130,000 stagnated teachers; the employment of more teachers to bridge the decit and a review of teachers’ housing, leave and commuter allowances, among other priorities,” said Mr Misori.

President Ruto is said to have assured the union of the high premium he attaches to stakeholder engagement and urged Kuppet to support the government in delivering its flagship projects.

He acknowledged that, as the representative of teachers across all facets of work, Kuppet may have grievances that the TSC may not address by itself, such as the allocation of funds for new employment.

“In such matters, he urged us to exhaust the means of dialogue within government all the way to the presidency, and to use industrial action only as a last resort,” said Mr Misori.

Besides bilateral issues, the President briefed the union on the government’s priorities including the housing development project to which teachers are a major contributor under the Housing Levy launched in 2023.

Later in the day, the NEB members visited the Mukuru Housing Project, one of 140 sites across the country comprising 14,000 housing units.

The union plans to explore ways for Nairobi teachers to benefit from the project.

But as the national officials of Kuppet met the Head of State, teachers from across the county were lamenting about deduction and non-remittance of union dues by TSC that had crippled operations in the branches.

After meeting President William Ruto at Statehouse to intervene into their cash crunch, Kuppet top brass can now smile after TSC released the union dues for the month of November.

Kuppet has not been receiving union dues since September after it prolonged the teachers strike while Knut had called off theirs and primary school teachers had resumed teaching.

However following the processing of the November salaries, TSC has deducted the union fee together with BBF for onward transmission to the Union .

The Union leaders who have been at odds with teachers nationwide for calling off the September strike without tangible benefits to the teachers, have been estranged and faced grinding of their services.

However the union will suffer one month loss after TSC failed to make deductions on teachers October salaries.

The union secretly agreed to a number of measures that unlocked the union dues remittance.

The union has agreed to support the new proposed medical cover for teachers and civil servants called Public Service Medical Scheme which is set to be rolled out in January.

The union has also agreed to never disrupt learning with strikes that are not blessed by the government agencies.

President William Ruto had early this month met with the Kuppet officials at State House Nairobi over TSC failure to make union dues deductions and releasing to the union.

Present in the meeting which discussed a number of issues affecting the education sector included Deputy President Kithure Kindiki and Kuppet officials led by its Chairman Mr Omboko Milemba and Secretary General Akello Misori.

In a statement released after the consultative meeting, Mr Misori indicated that the union briefed the President on important issues in the education sector and the welfare and working conditions of teachers in public service.

“The union sought the President’s support for its current programs, including negotiations for a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) for the 2025 – 2029 cycle,” said Mr Misori.

They lauded the government’s gesture of employing a record 51,000 teachers in a single year in 2023, some initially as interns but all now on permanent and pensionable terms.

Appreciating the Teachers Service Commission’s implementation of the Court Consent/Return-to-Work Formula signed between Kuppet and the Commission on September 5, 2024, Mr Misori noted that the employer had delivered on most of its commitments under the Consent.

Among these were full implementation of the 2021-2025 CBA; the confirmation of 46,000 Junior Secondary School teachers into permanent and pensionable positions and provisions for the Teachers Medical Scheme.

Others were the employment of 20,000 new teachers, the repeal of Career Progression Guidelines; and promotion of 45,000 teachers – all within two months of signing the Consent.

“The union appealed to the President to ensure the TSC’s access to more funds for the promotion of all 130,000 stagnated teachers; the employment of more teachers to bridge the decit and a review of teachers’ housing, leave and commuter allowances, among other priorities,” said Mr Misori.

President Ruto is said to have assured the union of the high premium he attaches to stakeholder engagement and urged Kuppet to support the government in delivering its flagship projects.

He acknowledged that, as the representative of teachers across all facets of work, Kuppet may have grievances that the TSC may not address by itself, such as the allocation of funds for new employment.

“In such matters, he urged us to exhaust the means of dialogue within government all the way to the presidency, and to use industrial action only as a last resort,” said Mr Misori.

Besides bilateral issues, the President briefed the union on the government’s priorities including the housing development project to which teachers are a major contributor under the Housing Levy launched in 2023.

Later in the day, the NEB members visited the Mukuru Housing Project, one of 140 sites across the country comprising 14,000 housing units.

The union plans to explore ways for Nairobi teachers to benefit from the project.

But as the national officials of Kuppet met the Head of State, teachers from across the county were lamenting about deduction and non-remittance of union dues by TSC that had crippled operations in the branches.