Education CS distances himself from lecturers’ pay talks
Education, Science and technology Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Dr Matiang’i said the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement is informed by the Constitution, labour laws and employee and employer contractual arrangements.
- The three unions on the negotiating table are Uasu, Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers and Kenya University Staff Union.
Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has distanced himself from talks geared towards ending the lecturers’ strike, saying he does not want to interfere with the due process.
In a move that is likely to prolong the strike that has paralysed learning in public universities, Dr Matiang’i said the process of negotiating a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is informed by the Constitution, labour laws and employee and employer contractual arrangements.
“The CBA for the public universities is a negotiation between the employer, represented in this case, by the Inter-public Universities Councils consultative forum and three unions,” he said in a letter dated February 23 to Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga.
NEGOTIATING TABLE
The three unions on the negotiating table are Uasu, Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha) and Kenya University Staff Union (Kusa).
Dr Matiang’i maintained that he would uphold the law and playing by the rules.
“The Salaries and Remuneration Commission has given the parameters and beacons for the negotiations and therefore I have no legal basis to second guess as you want me to,” he said in the letter.
The lecturers had, in a petition to the CS on February 22, urged him to intervene, saying the Sh10 billion offered by the government was too little.
