Junior Secondary School (JSS) teachers have been divided over the ongoing strike. During Madaraka Day, a section of JSS teachers’ leaders appeared on the media together with KUPPET officials and purported to have called off the strike.
Led by the Kenya Junior Secondary Teachers Association (KEJUSTA) Chairman Edwin Osoro, the leaders said that they were acting in the best interest of JSS teachers who were already facing disciplinary actions from TSC. Osoro said that JSS teachers do not have a formal union that could negotiate on their behalf with the employer, so they resorted to negotiating with KUPPET instead of TSC.
The return-to-work formula signed by KUPPET and JSS representatives did not have any stamp or signatures from JSS lawyers, KUPPET and TSC. It is based on this observation that another section of JSS leaders including spokesperson Omari Omari rejected the document.
While Omari and his followers maintain that the strike is still on, Chairman Edwin Osoro and Treasurer Patience Nkatha say that the strike is off and teachers should go back to class.
In a statement shared through social media and WhatsApp groups, Omari Omari said that KUPPET’s return-to-work formula is illegal because it does not include the employer’s signature and the signature of JSS lawyers.
“Our lawyers have so far distanced themselves from the fake deal. The deal the betrayers signed has NO LEGAL binding! KUPPET is not our employer. KUPPET is not the respondent in our case in court. KUPPET is NOT a registered agent of TSC hence they cannot purport to talk on their behalf,” Omari said.
He added that internship in junior secondary school remains illegal as ruled by the court, and going to work under illegal terms is suicidal. Therefore, he calls on junior secondary school teachers to keep off classrooms.
On the other hand, Osoro sent his own statement requesting JSS teachers to go back to school.
Under the return to work formula agreed by TSC and JSS teachers, TSC will confirm 26,000 intern teachers in July while the remaining 20,000 teachers will be confirmed next year. The agreement also requires TSC to withdraw show cause letters sent to striking teachers.
JSS teachers want all intern teachers to be confirmed to permanent and pensionable (PNP) terms since the court ruled that internship is an illegal labor arrangement.
TSC will be running a retooling exercise for all JSS teachers from Monday, and it remains to be seen how teachers will respond to the ongoing crisis as TSC maintains its silence.
