Truce as lecturers, varsity staff call off strike
PHOTO | EVANS HABIL Cabinet Secretary for Labour Kazungu Kambi appears before the Public Investment Committee at Continental House in Nairobi on March 18, 2014 on the NSSF Tassia II scheme. Kambi said in a press statement on March 19, 2014 that varsity staff have resolved to end the strike with a number of key agreements.
What you need to know:
- Labour, Social Security and Services Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi said in a press statement that stakeholders in the dispute have resolved to end the strike with a number of key agreements.
- Mr Kambi said the universities management have committed to fully implement the 2012-2013 CBA as agreed mutually between the three unions and universities management.
Public universities staff have resolved to return to work beginning Thursday morning after they reached a deal with the management of the institutions.
Labour, Social Security and Services Cabinet Secretary Kazungu Kambi said in a press statement that stakeholders in the dispute have resolved to end the strike with a number of key agreements.
“The universities managements have agreed to withdraw the cases lodged at the Industrial Court and there shall be no victimisation which would have made an employee to icur losses over the period of work stoppage,” said Mr Kambi.
The unions involved in the negotiations were Union of Academic Staff Union (Uasu), Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) and Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotel, Educational Institutions, Hospitals (Kudheiha).
Also included were the universities management, Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Education.
The teaching and non-teaching staff in 30 public universities have been on strike since Wednesday last week demanding the full implementation of Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of 2010-2013 signed by parties in the dispute.
UNABLE TO AGREE
In the agreement, public university employees in unionizable cadres were to be paid a total of Sh7.8bilion, being cumulative basic salaries and house allowances.
The amount was to be released in two phases and the initial Sh3.9bilion was disbursed to the Ministry of Education in the 2012 financial year.
However, trade unions and the universities management were unable to agree on the modalities for computation of the balance payment upon the release of the second tranche payment of Sh3.9billion leading to the strike.
Mr Kambi said the universities management have committed to fully implement the 2012-2013 CBA as agreed mutually between the three unions and universities management.
“The three unions and the universities management have agreed on a modality of payment and to end the stalemate to restore normalcy in our public universities,” Mr Kambi.
