Sunday, September 27, 2015 | by- LUKOYE ATWOLI Honest engagement will end rampant strikes

 Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta addresses the United Nations Summit for the Adoption of the Post-2015 Development Agenda during the 70th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on September 25, 2015. Earlier in the week, President Kenyatta addressed the nation on TV, emphasising that the government was not going to pay any more money to the teachers. PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

At the time of writing this piece, Kenyan teachers were completing the fourth week of industrial action triggered by their employer’s reluctance to implement an agreement endorsed earlier this year by the courts.

Earlier in the week, President Uhuru Kenyatta addressed the nation on TV, emphasising that the government was not going to pay any more money to the teachers.

Citing a number of statistics, some of which were later refuted by analysts, the president indicated that Kenyan teachers are among the best paid not only in this region, but almost by global standards.

He also argued that a pay rise for teachers would necessitate a pay rise for all public officers, placing further strain on an already huge wage bill.

One can understand the government’s frustration with the almost continuous demands for better pay among public servants.

RECURRENT EXPENDITURE
If this is allowed to continue, the risk of an unsustainable expansion of recurrent expenditure is real.

The government is obviously focused on development expenditure, especially on grand projects such as the Standard Gauge Railway and road construction.

Politically, an incumbent during election campaigns would not elicit as much sympathy by claiming that he continuously improved public workers salaries as he would by pointing out the major infrastructure projects in various parts of the country.

However, one must fault the executive for the disjointed and uncoordinated manner in which they are handling labour issues since 2013.

They have latched onto the advisory role of the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) as provided for in the Constitution, and are using it as the shield against any demands for collective bargaining implementation across all sectors.

The teachers situation is perhaps the most absurd, where a proposal by the government on teachers’ pay that was accepted by the workers and ratified by the courts has now been repudiated by the same government.

WAY FORWARD
Sadly, a similar situation obtains in other sectors as well. The Doctors’ Union signed an agreement with the Ministry of Health a couple of years ago.

Unfortunately, the same ministry reneged on the implementation of this agreement arguing that it must be reviewed by the SRC for ‘advice’ before it is implemented.

The said agreement expired a couple of months ago, without a word from the SRC or the government. Other unions have been trying to engage their respective ministries and units in vain, with the SRC being the most commonly touted bogeyman.

What, then, is the way forward? In my view, the first step in creating a peaceful industrial relations regime is a commitment to honest engagement and an acceptance of other actors as legitimate partners on labour matters.

FINAL RESPONSIBILITY
The ideal constitutional set up in negotiations would have two teams, the first one made up of the unions representing the workers, and the second one comprised of those responsible for implementing the negotiated terms and conditions of service.

An objective reading of the Constitution leaves one in no doubt that the SRC would sit on the side of the government during such negotiations, and advise them on the implications of any decisions arising from the negotiations.

In my view, the government will take final responsibility for the outcome of the negotiations notwithstanding SRC’s advice.

This is because the final punishment for a fiscally irresponsible government is to be voted out of office by the electorate it serves.