Workers defy orders to end strike

Teachers and university workers remained defiant as the labour crisis in public schools and universities enters the third week.

On Sunday, public university vice-chancellors threatened to sack lecturers who failed to report to work on Monday, quoting a court order it obtained from the Industrial Court, stopping the strike.

In a statement carried in local dailies, the VCs said the matter on lecturers’ salary increment was pending before the court, and the boycott was, therefore, illegal.

“In the circumstances, all academic and non-teaching staff are required to resume duty with immediate effect and in any case not later than September 17, 2012 (today),” the VCs said.

The universities warned lecturers that they would be considered having breached their employment contracts if they continued participating in the strike.

In a rejoinder, the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) said the court orders were “illegal” and were being used by the government to derail their push for an increment.

Uasu secretary-general Muga K’olale said they were not ready to bow to “belated orders” that were not going to help in achieving their cause. (READ: Cabinet issues return-to-work order)

Return-to-work formula

While urging its members to stay away from lecture halls, Prof K’olale said the court was being misused by the government.

“The court should not allow itself to issue orders stopping the strike before our salary issues are addressed,” Prof K’olale said when he jointly addressed the press on Sunday with Universities Non-Teaching Staff Union (Untesu) officials in Nairobi.

The Uasu official, who was accompanied by other union officials, said the vice-chancellors had no “moral right” to call off the strike yet it was not them who instituted it.

Untesu secretary-general Charles Mukwaya rejected the VCs’ order to resume work, saying they would only going back with a return-to-work formula.

“Without the formula we are staying put,” said Mr Mukwaya said. A Cabinet committee set up to look into the strikes seems not to have made any headway as the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) insisted on Sunday that their strike was still on.

Knut chairman Wilson Sossion said the teachers’ strike would continue until their demands were met. “We have not seen any commitment from the government to meet our demands and therefore the strike action still stands,” said Mr Sossion.