Teachers and civil servants have something to smile about after the parliament revoked Salaries and remuneration commission directive that had froze pay rise.
MPs ruled the circulars are unconstitutional as they violate workers’s rights to engage in collective bargaining with the employers in line with provisions of Article 41(5) of the Constitution.
The Article stipulates that “every trade union, employers’ organisation and employer has the right to engage in collective bargaining.”
This now means workers, through unions will be free to negotiate for new pay increases which the commission had frozen.
The SRC in June froze salary increments for all civil servants for two years starting July, dampening their prospects of better fortunes amid tough economic times brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The suspension affected basic salary, allowances and benefits of all government workers prompting unions to threaten to stage “a mother of all strikes.”
However, teachers have already signed a non-monetary CBA that will lapse in June 2025.
This means that the parliament’s revoking of of SRC directive does not change anything in the CBA teachers’ unions signed with their employer.
Despite the fact that teachers may have to wait for four years to enjoy enhanced salaries, they will enjoy enhanced leave days and flexible transfers that would help bring closer families that had been separated by distance.