Over 90,000 Teachers Quit KNUT Over Tussle With Employer

Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) has been dealt a blow after at least 90,000 teachers bolted out following frustrations by the employer, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

This comes days after TSC announced promotion of at least 38,000 Kenya Union of Post Primary Education (Kuppet) teachers, leaving their counterparts in Knut, in the implementation of Collective bargaining agreement (CBA) 2017-2021 as of July 1.

This was after Kuppet showed open support for TSC, which has been at loggerheads with rival Union, (Knut) to an extend of refusing to remit deductions from teachers.

Read: KNUT Council Gives Sossion One Week To Resign Or Be Kicked Out

TSC also delisted Knut Secretary General Wilson Sossion from the teachers register, saying that he was no longer a teacher hence can no longer represent the interest of teachers.

This has left the once giant teachers union torn in the middle, with a section of officials advocating for Sossion’s ouster. A meeting for the National Executive Council (NEC) has been planned for Thursday to determine Sossion’s fate.

“We are in a tight corner as a union because we are unable to even run operations at the branches. But we have one last chance to rescue the union from collapse this week during the NEC meeting,” said an official quoted by the Standard.

Read: KNUT’s Sossion Barred From Attending Teachers’ Conference Despite Receiving Official Invitation

As of last month, at least 190,000 Knut members were locked from the benefits of the CBA signed in 2016.

Knut members have also missed out on the CBA benefits in the August salaries and union dues not deducted.

So far, Knut is missing out on over Ksh280 million from members’ remittances, throwing it off-balance.

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