The Trade Union Congress of Kenya (TUC-ke) has suffered a major blow after Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) announced that it is pulling out 200,000 teachers from the umbrella body.
The pull-out is a result of differences between the leadership of TUC-ke and Knut on various labour issues.
Knut Secretary-General Wilson Sossion in a letter to TUC-ke Chairman Tom Odege dated August 7, cited two correspondences to the union dated April 27 and July 30 as the reasons of ending the relationship.
“We herein notify you that as a consequence of the correspondences which are in bad faith among other unprocedural practices that you have engaged in, Knut shall immediately cease to engage with the labour centre,” said Mr Sossion.
He went on, “Consequently, we cease remitting the monthly affiliation fee with immediate effect and any other further support that Knut has previously extended to the labour centre.”
Knut has been hosting the congress since 2014 and it has threatened to slap it with rent arrears.
Last month, the congress, in a letter signed by Deputy Secretary-General Charles Mukhwaya and dated July 30, suspended Mr Sossion on claims of misconduct.
Dr Mukhwaya said the national executive board held a meeting on July 24 and reviewed administrative actions relating to gross misconduct by Sossion.
On April 27, Mr Sossion was given a show cause letter following his close association with Cotu.
The congress was launched in 2014 at Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC) in a high profile event that was attended by four cabinet secretaries.
Mr Sossion was the brain behind the congress.
The government’s tacit support for the congress was seen as calculated to weaken the Central Organisation of Trade Unions’ control of billions of shillings in workers’ contributions and kill its monopoly of trade union power in Kenya.
TUC-Ke also afforded the government the chance to remove its workers from the steely grip of seasoned activists such as Cotu Secretary-General Francis Atwoli, who was seen as a stumbling block to President Kenyatta’s economic agenda.
The congress’ focus was also to have seats in the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), National Labour Board, National hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) and National Social Security Fund (NSSF).
But since its establishment, the congress has been unable to have other officials from its affiliates get lucrative positions in various parastatals as they are still held by representatives of Knut which claims that it contributes more than 70 percent to the congress.
The current bad blood between TUC-ke and Knut is as a result of nomination of Mr Sossion as MP by ODM.
TUC-ke presented the names of Mr Sossion and Dr Charles Mukhwaya to ODM for nomination in July 2017.
However, ODM picked Mr Sossion.
Another issue is the nomination to SRC.
Mr Sossion pushed Cotu to nominate Knut National Treasurer John Matiang’i as the workers’ representative, a move that did not go down well with board members of TUC-Ke.
Mr Odege had nominated Dr Mukhwaya for the position.
Mr Matiang’i later turned down the offer after it emerged that commissioners will work on a full-time basis. Cotu then nominated another candidate.
The third issue that has threatened the unity of the congress is push by Mr Sossion to have TUC-ke merge with Cotu in order to create a stronger labour centre.
It has not been an easy ride for TUC-ke since its formation in trying to have say in the labour movement.
After its launch, the congress tried to take control of Labour Day celebrations but Mr Atwoli overpowered them.