OUR MIDNIGHT DEADLINE TO THE GOVERNMENT STILL STANDS, DECLARES THIKA KNUT SECRETARY.

Thika branch Kenya National Union of Teachers Executive Secretary Joe Mungai Ngige has called on all Thika teachers to be on alert concerning the looming national wide strike. He echoed KNUT's Secretary General's words that the Kenyan teachers were telling the government that the window for negotiations, dialogue and opinions will close at midnight today.

Speaking on telephone to Thika Town Today this morning, Mr Mungai said that for a very long time, teachers had endured a lot of suffering. He lamented that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) had not yet paid their August salaries. The teachers SACCOS too had not received a coin from the TSC. This he termed as neo-slavery, TCS's own way of punishing the teachers in order to intimidate them into bowing down to pressure.

However Mr. Mungai reiterated that the teachers would not be cowed into giving to the government's under-hand tactics. He called on Thika teachers to brace themselves for a tough battle ahead adding that what they were fighting for was rightfully theirs.

"We are not asking too much from this government. just a mere 50% and we will in the classroom tomorrow early in the morning ready to disseminate knowledge to the kids we love so much. The courts ruled in our favour but there are some funny characters in government who want to make it hard for the Kenyan teacher," said Mungai.

He asked the teachers to be all ears and heed to whatever instructions KNUT's head office will give. He was still optimistic that before midnight today, TSC will have given the teachers the good news.

"We shall not comment until the ultimatum to TSC to effect our salary increases has elapsed. After that, we shall communicate to our members and the public on the way forward," he told Thika Town Today.

The teachers' unions that have called for a strike beginning Tuesday have declined to respond to the charge by their employer that they have not issued a strike notice required before going for a strike.

On Sunday, TSC head of communications Kihumba Kamotho insisted that teachers cannot legally go for a strike since they have not given a strike notice as required by labour relations laws in the country.

"The commission has not received any strike notice from either the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) or the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET)," he said.

"All teachers are, therefore, expected at their respective work stations from Monday 31st August 2015 performing their teaching and administrative duties,"

He insisted that the salary dispute was still at the Court of Appeal and teachers should allow the legal process to run its course. He claimed that the only dispute the commission is aware of is the Economic Dispute, which is the subject matter of an appeal in the Court of Appeal.

The Teachers Service Commission claims that the planned strike by at least 288,000 teachers countrywide cannot be legal without the employees issuing a strike notice as required by the Labour Relations laws.

Teachers' unions that have called for a strike beginning Tuesday have declined to respond to the charge by their employer that they have not issued a strike notice required before going for a strike.
Read more at: http://www.standardmedia.co.ke/article/2000174835/tsc-raises-questions-over-legality-of-planned-teachers-strike/