University lecturers begin nationwide strike

Lecturers and staff at public universities across the country have commenced their strike this Wednesday following a dispute surrounding the 2021-25 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) called for the strike in response to the government’s failure to address their demands.

This comes just a day after intense negotiations between university lecturers and relevant stakeholders to avert the looming strike collapsed.

UASU and KUSU expressed their frustration on the reduced funding to universities, delayed salaries and the government’s failure to remit statutory and third-party deductions, including loans and pension contributions. They also oppose the newly introduced university funding model.

“We came to the table to negotiate this CBA but the response was disheartening. There is no money yet we see funds being mismanaged as Kenyans face crippling taxes,” stated KUSU secretary general, Charles Mukhwaya.

UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga declared that the union’s members would not accept empty promises and would only end the strike after a concrete solution was presented.

“We don’t eat promises and promissory notes. We don’t care if it takes years. If they come with promises, we’ll reject them. We want something tangible,” he said.

The two unions have protested the government’s comparison of university staff to civil servants and have announced that they will halt collecting tuition fees until all outstanding salaries are paid.

Wasonga argued that professors should not be compared to low-grade civil servants, highlighting the disparities in pay and promotion criteria outlined by the Salary and Remuneration Commission.

“Our roles and responsibilities are vastly different. There are significant discrepancies in pay and promotion criteria that need to be addressed,” he said.

The union also demanded that their members should be considered for the seven to ten percent increment on basic salary that other government workers were given last year.

 The strike was launched by KUSU and UASU officials at the Technical University of Kenya (TUK).