The Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) has issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), demanding urgent talks on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) or face a nationwide teachers’ strike.
Speaking in Kakamega on Friday, KUPPET Secretary General Akello Misori expressed concern over the TSC’s silence, despite being formally served with the union’s proposed CBA.
He said the union has already written to the Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection, Dr. Alfred Mutua, to register a dispute and initiate conciliation.The current CBA, signed in July 2021, is set to expire on June 30, 2025.
KUPPET insists that without a new agreement in place, its members will be left vulnerable to unfair employment practices.“We don’t want our members to be overexposed in the absence of a new CBA beyond June 30. The minister has seven days to process our relationship with the employer. If nothing happens, we will call for a nationwide strike,” said Misori.
In the proposed 2025–2029 CBA, KUPPET is pushing for major salary and allowance increments. These include a 50 percent basic salary increase for teachers in higher grades and a 100 percent raise for lower cadre staff. Additionally, the union is demanding a harmonized house allowance with a 20 percent increment, and a commuter allowance increase of 200 percent for senior staff and 250 percent for junior teachers.
The union also seeks a 100 percent rise in hardship allowance, a 20 percent hazardous allowance, daily subsistence for co-curricular duties, one-month basic salary as leave allowance, and overtime and risk allowances—especially for teachers in insecure regions.
KUPPET Chairperson Omboko Milemba urged the TSC, Ministry of Labour, and the National Assembly Education Committee to act swiftly.
He also criticized attempts to abolish the national examination fee subsidy, warning it would undermine constitutional provisions on free and compulsory education.“Removing exam fee support violates Article 53 of the Constitution. Basic education must remain free and accessible,” said Milemba.
KUPPET has vowed to mobilize mass action if the government fails to respond within the deadline.
