Varsity staff call off strike
What you need to know:
- Officials of Uasu, Kusu and Kudheiha on Tuesday said they received a letter from the Finance ministry confirming that they would receive the funds by July 31.
Uasu secretary-general Constantine Wasonga said the calling off the strike did not guarantee the government that they will not strike again.
University workers have called off their strike after the government agreed to pay them the rest of the Sh10 billion they have been demanding.
The government agreed to release a balance of Sh5.2 billion to them before the end of July.
LETTER
Last month, the Education ministry released Sh4.8 billion towards the Sh10 billion collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that was signed in March.
Officials of the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (Uasu), Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) and Kudheiha on Tuesday said they received a letter from the Finance ministry confirming that they would receive the money by July 31.
Uasu secretary-general Constantine Wasonga said calling off the strike did not guarantee the government that the workers would not strike again.
“We want to give the government yet another benefit of [the] doubt that the Sh5.2 billion is paid by July 31,” he said.
“Should that not be the case, the workers will down their tools again.”
The three-week industrial action had crippled learning at 31 public universities and their constituent campuses countrywide.
The workers urged the Education ministry to invite them for a meeting next week to begin negotiations on the 2017-2021 collective bargaining agreement.
NEW CBA
“We do not want to start such differences in the next five years, the [sooner] we agree on a CBA the better,” he said.
The three unions also want the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to spearhead a transparent job evaluation that will see senior lecturers and other workers placed in their respective job groups according to their qualifications.
“We are not going to accept a defective process,” said Dr Wasonga.
This came even as the University of Nairobi announced that it would close from August 2 to August 20 to allow students to participate in the General Election.
