The Kenya National Union of Teachers has hinted at a strike to protest the move by the Teachers Service Commission to deduct salaries of its members.
The union yesterday criticised TSC for backtracking on the 2016 CBA following a court ruling over a dispute on the policy that guides teachers promotions.
The move has met strong resistance from Knut which has vowed to fight back through negotiations without ruling out picketing.
Knut secretary general Wilson Sossion yesterday accused the TSC of discriminating against members of the union.
However, TSC argues that court judgment annulled the CBA.
The union and the TSC are headed for an all-out war that could see the disruption of teaching and learning when schools reopen in September.
The two organisations have differed over the method to be used to promote teachers.
In the new CBA, the TSC adopted a policy document called career progression guidelines to manage promotions.
Knut rejected the move noting that there was no consultation in the formulation of the document its design denied members promotion.
Yesterday, the union called for negotiations to develop the contested policies with the employer to amicably resolve the dispute
Sossion said the employer's target was to fight Knut but was using teachers as collateral.
“It is wrong for TSC to negatively react and vent to the outcome of the court case through the payroll,” Sossion said in Nairobi.
Knut had gone to court to contest the TSC's decision to implement a career progression programme, which it said hindered members from getting promotions.
The career progression programme was implemented in May 2018, but the court stopped TSC from implementing it on July 13.
TSC moved to court to appeal the decision on July 26, but its application was dismissed.
The TSC then went ahead to reverse salary increments implemented in the 2016 CBA.
Sossion questioned how the TSC managed to increase the salary of teachers in 2017 when the first phase of the CBA was implemented before the roll-out of the career progression.
"Neither the employer nor the union can change the provisions of the CBA without consultations," Sossion said yesterday.
(edited by O. Owino)
