Over 800 ECDE Teachers in Nyamira Down Tools Over SRC Pay Structure
KUNOPPET Nyamira Secretary General Elizabeth Momanyi said the pay disparities forced them to take industrial action.
KUNOPPET National Secretary Samuel Opiyo addresses ECDE teachers and union officials at the Labour Office in Kisii County, where he announced the union's petition to the Controller of Budget over counties that have failed to implement the SRC advisory on ECDE teachers' salaries and scheme of service. Photo: Courtesy.
By Monica Nashon
Learning in ECDE centres across Nyamira County has been paralysed for the fourth day running after 882 teachers downed their tools to protest delayed implementation of the SRC scheme of service.
The teachers, under the Kenya Union of Pre-Primary Education Teachers (KUNOPPET), accuse the County Government of Nyamira of ignoring the Salaries and Remuneration Commission advisory on salaries, job grading and career progression.
KUNOPPET Nyamira Chairperson Mose Kasimiri said the grievances date back to 2022 when the teachers were issued with employment letters, but the county is yet to align their pay to the guidelines released by SRC on August 10, 2023.
“We were given letters on November 1, 2022, and SRC gave clear guidelines on how we should be paid on August 10, 2023. Four years down the line, nothing has been addressed. We are 882 teachers affected,” said Kasimiri.
He said the county has kept teachers on long-term contracts with no clear path for promotion.
The union says it is demanding harmonised pay based on qualifications as provided in the SRC advisory – about Sh35,000 basic pay for diploma holders and about Sh25,000 for certificate holders, plus applicable allowances.
KUNOPPET Nyamira Secretary General Elizabeth Momanyi said the pay disparities forced them to take industrial action.
“We have downed our tools because Nyamira County has refused to implement the SRC advisory scheme of service. We will remain at home until we sit down with the government and agree on how to implement it,” Momanyi said.
National Secretary General Samwel Opiyo said the union has escalated the matter to the Controller of Budget and the Senate.
“I have written to the Controller of Budget not to approve budgets for counties like Nyamira which have refused to factor in the salaries of ECDE teachers as advised by SRC,” Opiyo said.
He also accused county governments of refusing to formally recognise KUNOPPET and declining to deduct and remit union dues for teachers who have voluntarily joined the union.
The teachers maintain the strike will continue until the county commits to a time-bound plan to implement the SRC advisory and address issues of salary disparities, job grading, and terms of employment.
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