KENYA: Officials of the country’s largest trade union are reeling from the unexpected “rough handling” they got at the hands of the Jubilee Government.
Knut national Chairman, Wilson Sossion
They now blame the Central Organisation of Trade Unions for having a hand in their misfortunes after they were forced to abandon the “father of all strikes” with essentially the same deal secured by a smaller rival union.
Used to getting its way on the back of a vast membership, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) was this week forced to climb down on its demands thanks to the use of what it termed “parallel” efforts at strikebreaking.
A mix of hard and soft power was brought to bear to pressure Knut into calling-off a debilitating national teachers’ strike without gaining additional concessions.
The union was still scrambling to negotiate a return-to-work formula after calling-off the strike and faces more pain should a contempt of court case against it go against them when a ruling is delivered on Monday.
Tactics used included withholding of the June salary, school closure, court action, threat of individual penalties for defiant officials and even threats of dismissals and recruitment of new teachers to replace striking ones. Knut was forced to cede ground amid strike-weariness in its ranks as the actions by the State began to reach the union’s pain threshold.
Ballooning wage bill
The recourse to rough play, The Standard On Saturdayhas learnt, is informed by threats of a ballooning public sector wage bill against a scarcely elastic revenue base.
The Treasury has projected the budget deficit would romp way above the Sh350 billion in the 2013-14 fiscal year unless there are cutbacks in perks for civil servants, teachers and other public office holders.
It is a challenge the State wants to navigate delicately to prevent the public wage bill tipping up taxes, hence high production costs.
Knut chairman Wilson Sossion gave insights into how the Government arm-twisted teachers into abandoning their industrial action.
He says the union was told the economy would be hard hit if the Government caved in to pressure to honour the final parts of the 1997 pay agreement. This line of argument failed to sway teachers when adopted by Labour Secretary Kazungu Kambi.
Sossion interprets the intransigence as an attempt to cripple the labour movement as the Government pursues capitalistic economic policies, “where profits override the social welfare of the working class.” IfKnut fails to press State coffers open, he fears trade unions will in future find it difficult to negotiate pay deals for their members.
Sources at Knut allege Cotu tipped the three-month-old Jubilee regime on how to break the strike. However,Cotu, through Mr Ernest Nadome, a member of the Executive Board, denies undermining Knut and accuses the latter of playing hardball unnecessarily.
“No union can do that (betray another union). When we offered our advice, Knut told us to keep off. That is what we are doing,” Nadome says. “To suggest that we advised the Government or TSC action is to suggest that the ministry and TSC are incompetent and incapable of thinking on their own.”
Knut alleges that the court action by TSC to compelKnut to accept the watered down agreement and call off the strike was instigated by Cotu to fend-off threats posed by the Federation of Public Service Trade Unions (F-Pusetu) to its dominating trade movement. Instead,Cotu accuses F-Pusetu of misleading Knut to arm-twist the Government.
Knut leadership faces Sh20 million fine if the court upholds TSC’s petition. Sossion and acting Secretary-General Mudzo Nzili, who refused to call off the strike on July 1, may also be committed to jail.
Surcharge
In addition, striking teachers will be slapped with Sh10,000 surcharge. The use of parallel union to fight in the same way Knut says the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) is used to scuttle its programmes.
“The Government is working to cripple Knut because it perceives it to be the biggest headache,” laments Sossion.
When the teachers downed tools to demand full implementation of Legal notice 534 of 1997 that spelt out agreed perks with the State, Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, without prompting, advisedKnut to sit down with the Government and agree on how the housing, commuter health and responsibility allowances that had been staggered over 10 years but which to date have not been honoured would be sorted out.
Cotu warned Knut against unspecified repercussions if it failed to heed counsel for a negotiated deal. The hostile inter-trade unions relations is a boon to the state, which whenever there is a strike incites one union against the other. Nadome said the warning was informed by their experience borne out of time-tested skills in “negotiating skills and networking” with employers.
By JUMA KWAYERA, The Standard
