Institutional factors influencing teachers’ choice of trade unions in public secondary schools in Dagoretti District, Kenya
Abstract
The study sought to establish the influence of numerical strength, union’s
timely response to members’ needs, peer pressure and effectiveness of Kenya’s
teachers’ trade unions strategies on the choice of trade union. The study
employed a survey research design and the target population consisted of 12
secondary schools with 320 teachers and 30 union officials in Dagoretti
District. The total population included 320 teachers from both Kenya National
Union of Teachers and Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers and
also teachers who are not yet unionized. The total targeted respondents were
110. There were 102 respondents who participated in the study which was 93
percent return rate. Data was gathered using teachers’ questionnaire and
interview schedule for union officials. The instrument was tested for reliability
through test-retest technique and found reliable. Descriptive statistics was used
to analyze data with the assistance of Statistical Package for Social Sciences
(SPSS) programmes which generated frequency tables, percentages and bar
graphs. The findings of the study were as follows: First, on the question of the
extent to which numerical strength of a union influences secondary school
teachers choice of trade union in Dagoretti District, it was found that majority
of respondents, at 96.8 percent rated numerical strength of a union as a factor
that determine teachers’ choice of trade unions, while only 3.2 percent said
that size of a union is irrelevant. The respondents highly related numerical
strength of a union associating it with greater bargaining power, sense of
security and participation, and that their voice can be heard more easily than in
small unions. Second, on the question of the influence of unions’
responsiveness to members’ needs on union membership, the results revealed
that the respondents joined teachers’ unions; for collective bargaining for
better pay, for better work condition, to receive legal advice and services, to
interact with colleagues and friends and for personal representation. Third, on
the influence of peer pressure among teachers on union membership 91.1
percent of the respondents said that they would prefer to join a trade union
where their peers were already members while only 8.9 percent said they
would not.Fourthly, on the question as to whether union’s strategies to attract
new members affected teachers’ choice of trade unions,47.5 percnt,33.75
percent and 15 percent felt that the unions strategies influenced teachers
choice of trade union to great extent, very great extent and some extent. The
study concluded that numerical strength of a union, peer pressure, trade unions
timely response to the needs of its members, and strategies used by trade
unions to attract new members influences teachers’ choice of trade unions.
The study further concluded that Kenyan teachers’ trade unions should rethink
their strategies. This will attract new members and hence strengthen numerical
strength of trade unions. The study recommends that Kenya teachers unions
should aim to meet the needs of members and this will have the potential of
influencing the ununionized teachers to join a particular union or not. The
study further recommends that another study be carried out in other counties to
obtain whether similar findings will be obtained.
Citation
A Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Award of Degree of Master of Education in Corporate Governance in EducationCollections
- Faculty of Education (FEd) [5964]