The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) to initiate negotiations on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). The union has also notified the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Dr. Alfred Mutua, of a formal dispute, citing TSC’s silence despite being served with a letter requesting talks on the upcoming CBA.
KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori expressed concern that with the current CBA set to expire on June 30, 2025, failing to agree on a new deal in good time would leave teachers vulnerable and demoralized. The union is proposing a new four-year CBA to run from July 2025 to June 2029.
Speaking in Kakamega, Misori warned that if the TSC fails to act within the seven days, KUPPET will mobilize for a nationwide strike, withdraw labour, and hold demonstrations. “We have given the Cabinet Secretary seven days to process our relationship with the employer. We don’t want our members to be overexposed when the current CBA lapses,” Misori stated.
Among the key proposals in the new CBA is a 50 percent increase in basic salary for teachers in higher grades and a 100 percent raise for those in lower cadres. The union also wants commuter allowances increased by 200 percent for senior staff and 250 percent for lower ranks, alongside a 100 percent rise in hardship allowances and the introduction of a hazardous duty allowance at 20 percent of basic pay.
Other demands include the harmonisation and 20 percent increase of house allowances, daily subsistence allowances for co-curricular duties, and conversion of the current flat leave allowance to a full month’s basic salary. KUPPET also proposed overtime and risk allowances, especially for teachers working in insecure, bandit-prone regions.
KUPPET Chairperson Omboko Milemba called on the TSC, Labour Ministry, and Parliament’s Education Committee to urgently address the welfare of teachers. He further cautioned against moves to scrap the national exam fee subsidy, arguing it would undermine free and compulsory basic education as enshrined in Article 53 of the Constitution.
