Teachers in special education have petitioned the National Assembly to intervene in a new conflict over union agency fee deductions.
They claim that the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) forced them to join the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet).
Teachers have disassociated themselves from the union in a petition dated April 15, 2023, submitted to National Assembly Education Committee chair Julius Melly, claiming that they were not consulted before being classified as members of Kusnet.
They claimed that without their knowledge, union dues in the form of agency fees were being withdrawn and remitted to Kusnet.
The teachers now want the committee to ask TSC and Kusnet to reimburse any money taken from teachers without their consent.
Teachers Service Commission Chief Executive Officer Nancy Macharia. Teachers have accused the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of coercing them into joining the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet).
Teachers in special schools have petitioned the National Assembly to intervene in a fresh dispute over agency fee deductions to a union.
They are accusing the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) of coercing them into joining the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (Kusnet).
In a petition dated April 15, 2023, addressed to National Assembly Education Committee chair Julius Melly, the teachers have disassociated themselves from the union, saying, they were not consulted before being listed as members of Kusnet.
They said they were being deducted union dues in the form of agency fees without their approval and the money was being remitted to Kusnet.
The teachers want the committee to order TSC and Kusnet to refund all the money deducted from teachers who did not sign any membership agreement with the union.
Jurisdiction
In addition, teachers have further asked the committee to determine whether TSC has the jurisdiction to make decisions on behalf of the employees on the union they should join.
“We filed a case over the [issue] after having been forced to subscribe to [Kusnet] by paying monthly union dues, which were later stopped. We later realised that we are being deducted agency fees in favour of the same union,” said the teachers in their petition. The teachers argue that their employer should allow them to join a union of their choice.
The petition was copied to the TSC chief executive officer, the secretaries general of Kusnet, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut), and the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet), as well as the clerks of the Senate and National Assembly.
They claimed that TSC’s decision to force them to join Kusnet rather than other teachers’ unions violated their constitutional and labor rights. The instructors claimed that even after they went to court to stop the withdrawal from their wages, their employer continued to make deductions, including the social welfare association’s charge, without their authorization.
“Kusnet does not have grassroots representation or known regional offices. The union does not conduct annual general meetings, annual delegates conferences and its elections are conducted in secrecy,” said the teachers in the petition.