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International trade union urges Uhuru to implement teachers’ pay rise


A global union representing 30 million teachers and education workers has written to President Uhuru Kenyatta to meet the demands of teachers for decent wages.

In a letter dated September 28, 2015, Education International urged the president to:

1. Implement the court decisions confirming the pay rise;

2. Engage in meaningful dialogue with Knut and Kuppet and meet the legitimate demands of teachers for decent wages and better living conditions;

3. Respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of teachers in accordance with international standards related to collective bargaining;

4. Refrain from threatening teachers because of their appeal for a fair salary increase.

Education International’s members in Kenya are the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT), the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA), the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) and the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU).

Education International also expressed optimism that President Kenyatta’s government will act swiftly to address the demands of teachers, so that they can resume their duties without any victimization.

SOLIDARITY WITH TEACHERS

Meanwhile, the Danish Union of Teachers, DLFs has voiced it’s solidarity with the striking teachers saying they rightly deserved A pay rise.

“We understand that the Supreme Court this month has ruled in favour of the KNUT to have a 50 – 60 % pay rise. However, it is most alarming that Kenya’s Government will not follow the ruling of the Supreme Court and that the Government has decided to close the public schools in Kenya,” a letter by DLF’s president Anders Bondo Christensen addressed to Knut chairman Wilson Sossion and secretary general Mudzo Nzili read.

These developments come in the wake of the Teachers Service Union’s (TSC) decision to hire 70,000 teachers on a three-month contract as the teachers strike continues.