The Central Organization of Trade Unions (COTU) has appealed to Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education (KUPPET) to support the nomination of their members to Parliament.
The umbrella trade union body told the two teachers’ unions to rally behind elected union officials in order to ensure the workers’ voice is represented in the 12th parliament.
In as statement, COTU Secretary General Francis Atwoli called on the two teachers’ unions not to sack the two members: KNUT Secretary General Wilson Sossion and KUPPET National Chair Omboko Milemba from their positions in their respective unions as their nomination will benefit the workers’ interests.
“We ask the two unions not to fall prey to some external forces, interests and pressure to neither relieve these elected Union Officials of their positions in their respective Unions nor be coerced into calling for their resignation from their Union positions because as workers we are no doubt set to benefit greatly by having colleagues sit in parliament on the platform of a worker representative and/or being an elected trade union official,” He urged.
Atwoli also assured the unions that COTU will stand by the elected leaders as they discharge their duties both at the Union level and in Parliament and will view any attack on anyone of them to be an attack on the entire Labour Movement in Kenya.
