Teachers to sue TSC for contempt of court in pay dispute

Secondary school teachers will move to court tomorrow to sue the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) for contempt of court.

The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet ) said TSC processed the August salaries but did not factor in the 50-60 per cent pay increment that had been awarded by the Labour Court.

Teachers contacted by The Standard on Sunday said they had received their payslips for August but medical allowance had been deducted contrary to the court ruling that had exempted them from paying the same.

“The money was in by Thursday, about two weeks before end month,” said a teacher who declined to be named.

TSC had filed a petition in the Supreme Court to block the pay rise and the ruling was set for tomorrow.

Yesterday, Kuppet Chairman Omboko Milemba claimed that the salaries were sent early by TSC to delay the pay increment even if the court rejects their petition.

“If the court rules in our favor, they (TSC) will start saying that they have already paid teachers and therefore cannot include the increment in the August salaries,” said Mr Milemba.

He accused TSC of disrespecting the rule of the law, adding that the commission does care about the welfare of the teachers.

“They always delay our salaries and when they decide to pay us on time it is not because they care, they are doing it for their own benefit,” he said.

Court warning

The Industrial and Labour Relations Court had last month ordered TSC to pay teachers the increment with immediate effect. This was to take effect from August 1, and exempt the teachers from paying medical allowance. TSC is to pay premiums for members to insurance companies.

The three-judge Bench, led by Justice Mohamed Warsame, had warned the commission that failure to implement the pay increment would result in dismissal of their appeal with costs.

The commission will, however, not be required to pay teachers the salary arrears dating back to 2013 amounting to Sh37 billion.

With the salary increment the lowest paid P1 teacher will get an additional Sh4,612 on top of Sh16,692 which translates to Sh 21,304 while the highest paid teacher under job group R will get Sh35,389 increment on Sh109,089 pay to take home Sh144,928.