The Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) has been excluded from the list of unions that will be collecting monthly contributions from its members’ salaries.
This happened when the Ministry of Labour was authorizing unions to collect member fees, and KNUT was not among the listed unions.
On the other hand, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET), which is KNUT’s rival , has been given authorisation.
According to the legal notice filed by Labour Cabinet Secretary Simon Chelungui, KUPPET will be collecting Ksh300 from its members every month.
KNUT has however downplayed the lost privilege arguing that it would be resolved soon.
The union stated that there were some pending issues that are being addressed with their employer and the Labour Mininstry.
“Our legal notice regarding union dues is coming over and there should be no cause for alarm,” KNUT Secretary General Collins Oyuu mentioned.
According to the Labour Relations Act, the TSC shall remit to Kuppet the sum of money deducted from its employees and affiliation to the union done within 10 days.
The post-primary union had been advantaged from the deteriorating relationship between KNUT and the Government.
A number of teachers have defected from KNUT and collection of this fee will greatly contribute to their revenues.
Kenya’s oldest teachers’ union had a membership of 184, 471 which has fallen to a low of 15,000.
KUPPET caters for secondary school teachers and has a membership of 109, 000 while the new Kenya Union of Special Education Teachers (KUNSET) has 8,000 members.
KUNSET was formed just recently, and it caters for teachers teaching in special schools. This union is also not authorised to collect fees from its employees.
There is also a group of teachers that is not in either of the unions. In their case, they will be deducted an agency fee.
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