TSC on the spot over union fees deduction for visually impaired teachers

Kenya Visually Impaired Teachers' Association (KEVIT) has put the Teachers' Service Commission (TSC) on the spot over the automatic deduction of 1.5 per cent of their salaries as agency fees to the Kenya Union of Special Needs Education Teachers (KUSNET)

Appearing before the Senate Committee on Labour and Social Welfare, KEVIT Chairperson Mbugua Kamau argued that they never registered as members of KUSNET and that the union does not represent their interests.

"There is a T-Pay online platform used by teachers to manage third-party deductions but it lacks an option for one to exit the union," he said on Wednesday.

However, TSC CEO Nancy Macharia, who attended the meeting, dismissed Kamau's allegations.

She said that the T-Pay system gives teachers complete authority over their union-related deductions, enabling them to either approve or stop any deductions as they wish.

"The T-Pay system allows teachers to manage individual transactions by approving any third-party deductions they wish to be applied to their payslips," Macharia explained.

"Similarly, a teacher who desires to exit a union needs only to log into the T-Pay system and stop the deduction," she added.

Senator George Mbugua, Vice-chairperson of the Labour Committee, questioned the TSC boss on how KUSNET, with only 52 registered members, could be collecting agency fees from 2,433 teachers.

CBA

Macharia responded by explaining that the commission deducts union dues from KUSNET's registered members and agency fees from teachers who benefit from the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiated by KUSNET, in line with an order from the Minister of Labour and the Labour Relations Act.

In response, Geoffrey Wachira from KEVIT challenged KUSNET's claim of having negotiated benefits under the CBA.

He pointed out that some allowances, such as the Disability Guide Allowance, were already in place before KUSNET's involvement.

"Can anyone claim to negotiate for something that already exists? For instance, the Disability Guide Allowance has been there before KUSNET. How could they negotiate for something that was already in place?" Wachira posed.

The committee's session was in response to a statement request by Senator Crystal Asige, who sought clarification on the registration of teachers with disabilities into KUSNET without their consent.