President William Ruto has abolished the old tradition where teachers and civil servants unions would be invited o negotiate for salary and allowance benefits for their members.
In a paradigm shift, Dr. Ruto is now relying solely on the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on matters to fix salaries and allowances for government employees.
Teachers union Knut has already rubbished the recently 7-10% payrise announced by SRC. Knut secretary general Collins Oyuu says its government way of giving with one hand taking with another through taxes.
Knut and Kuppet have been pushing for salary increment through a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) they signed with TSC in 2021.
They wanted the non-monetary CBA to be reviewed to include salary increment. However they were caught by surprise when President William Ruto announced a salary increment of 7-10% for all workers and directed SRC to make adjustments.
TSC has since dropped the CBA negotiations that were ongoing. Knut had issued a 14 day strike notice but did not materialize as teachers refused to heed the call.
The two teachers unions, together with a number of other unions were last invited at State House to rally support for the 2023 Finance Act and were promised of salary increment if the economy improves.
SRC on Wednesday August 9, 2023 officially announced the substantial salary increase of 7-10% for teachers, civil servants and state officers effective from 1st July.
Of the Sh21.66 billion allocated for salary reviews in the current financial year, 83.9 per cent (Sh18.2 billion) has been channelled to three categories of workers.
TSC has been allocated Sh9.6 billion (44.2 per cent), uniformed and disciplined forces Sh4.5 billion and county governments Sh4 billion.
SRC indicated that the review– meant to harmonise salaries across the public service to achieve equity and fairness-adjusted salaries in favour of the lowest earners in national and county governments, while partially freezing salary increments for the highest earners, mostly in State corporations and secretariat staff in commissions and independent offices.
Ms Mengich said the salary reviews, to be effected in the current and next financial years, focused on pulling the low earners towards the ideal salary range.
The average salary increase for the employees will be between 7 per cent and 10 per cent, inclusive of an annual 3 per cent increase that has been in place.
“This review is about harmonisation of pay, we are trying to get a sense of equity and fairness in pay. It’s not so much about additional pay and that is why there is no much increase for State corporations,” said SRC Chairperson Lyn Mengich.
Ms Mengich added that after commissioning labour market salary surveys to find out how different public agencies pay their workers compared to their comparable private sector counterparts, the commission realised huge disparities, with some agencies paying huge salaries as workers in others earn peanuts.
The SRC used a model that ranked jobs according to their current gross remuneration, settling on the middle of salaries paid to comparable private sector counterparts as the ideal, and terming such salaries the 50th percentile.
According to the model, the teaching service is ranked lowest in the 36th percentile, followed by civil servants in national and county governments in the 39th percentile.
Some state corporations rank highest in the 89th percentile, followed by secretariat staff in commissions and independent offices in the 84th percentile.
Low earners
Ms Mengich said the salary reviews, to be effected in the current and next financial years, focused on pulling the low earners towards the ideal salary range.
“Due to historical reasons, the public service has disparities in remuneration and benefit structures. The different market positions ranging from the 36th percentile to the 89th percentile are a demonstration of the disparities that we have in the remuneration structures and therefore this review seeks to adjust salaries that are below the 50th percentile so as to achieve equity and fairness,” Ms Mengich said.
The average salary increase for the employees will be between 7 per cent and 10 per cent, inclusive of an annual 3 per cent increase that has been in place.
The pay increase will be backdated to July 1, meaning that workers in public service are currently owed the July additional dues.
On the other hand, workers in corporations who are currently enjoy huge salaries will only be entitled to the annual 3 per cent increment.
“Although the pay structures are frozen, there is still an increase that is given as part of the notch increases that happen. A freeze in a structure doesn’t mean that there will be no pay rise in State corporations. There will be exceptions for State corporations that are also way below the 50th percentile. Those will be looked at on a case by case basis,” Ms Mengich said.
The proposed raise in salaries is part of the commission’s implementation of the 2021/22-2024/25 remuneration and benefits review cycle. On advice from Treasury, the commission had frozen salary increments in the first two years of the cycle— 2021/22 and 2022/23-due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But SRC and Treasury said the economy had rebounded since last year and there were projections of continued positive performance.
Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u noted that the Sh21.66 billion allocation fell far short of the requests by SRC, but Treasury allocated the amount based on economic performance. The commission had indicated that Sh340 billion is needed to fully harmonise remuneration and benefits across the public service.
“The National Treasury appreciates the fact that this is not what SRC would have required but they have considered the slow economic recovery and the economic structure, they have looked at the structural inequality of growth and they have listened to the National Treasury,” Prof Ndung’u said.
The CS also said the model used in the distribution of the additional salaries was based on consideration of government workers who have suffered the most from prevailing economic hardships.
“We are budgeting that for this year and a similar amount for next year because we are conscious that we have to come down to the realities that public sector workers are struggling because of shocks that have hit the economy,” the CS said.
The salary increases are expected to push teachers from the 36th percentile to the 39th, and civil servants in national and county governments from the 39th percentile to the 42nd.
“The intention is to grow those that are below to catch up with those that are high. That is the thrust of this third remuneration review cycle. We are largely looking at how to progressively harmonise those that are at the lowest level, the TSC and the PSC, towards a better position,” said SRC Vice-Chair Amani Komora.
The commission announced the increase after communicating to public agencies in the national and county governments to abolish and/or review some four allowances that it considers double compensation.
The allowances include retreat, which is recommended for abolition, taskforce, which is recommended for review and abolition in some instances, and daily subsistence and sitting allowances for internal institutional committee members, recommended for review.
Tsc should open the window for those who want to leave unions because some teachers find themselves in the unions without their consent.
The fact that unions get money even when they have done nothing has kept them in zones of comfort as teachers continue to suffer because of punitive policies.
KNUT has been clinging on teacher’s windfall gains claiming apportionment of the kola nut hiding behind hyenaic agency fee.
At last Ruto has spelt it. Let’s now open the doors for free entry and exit to attest the strength, suitably & viability of the unions
knut and Ruto are in the same whatssap group,thievery is their core business,those who are celebrating belong to the ignoramus mentalis group of animals that were born to suffer
Wakwende huko walikataa kutetea walimu wale walienda for further studies . They are there to benefit themselves.
Aluta continua!
Unions are toothless dogs. Defiant ticks to herbicides that cling to workers skins for survival. Hon president Dr, Ruto is right to send them packing. We’re tired of their lies. They call for strike that doesn’t yield. Gone are good days of the likes of Akina Adongo, let him rest in peace as the current unions too have been swallowed in peace.
Let union membership be optional that is democracy.Ruto hoiyee
Unions don’t help teachers who are their members, why force things like KEWOTE on lady trs? Can one sue the commission for such unwarranted deductions ? Why does the commission put trs into two health insurances and non is of any benefits?
The unions changed from serving employee to serving employer and it’s now their time to cry
Basket unions hakuna kitu zinasaidia except kukula pesa ya mwalimu bure
Kick them out hazina msaada kwa walimu that’s y strike waliitisha but no one responded
SRC is often intimidated/compromised by the Executive and Parliament. The gap between their salaries and those of the lesser employees or even the unemployed is too wide!