University Lecturers have promised to strike in two weeks if the government fails to implement a payment agreement reached last year.
The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) has given the government an ultimatum of 15 days from Wednesday 1 January 2025 to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) 2021-2025.
UASU organizing secretary Onesmus Mutio said the union and the government had agreed that the new salaries for university teachers would be implemented in December.
He said the agreement was for the December salary to include arrears from October and November. “We saw a circular from the SP ordering the university to prepare to pay the new salaries from December, but the teachers went on holiday without the new salaries as planned,” Mutio said.
The UASU called off the teachers’ strike on November 23, 2024, after signing a return-to-work agreement with the Ministry of Education.
The move follows the government’s commitment to fully implement the KSH9.7 billion collective bargaining agreement.
The teachers went on strike on September 18 after negotiations between the government and their representatives failed. With the signing of the return-to-work formula, the teachers at the public university resumed their academic activities on November 25. On Wednesday, Mutio lamented that the government has not honoured its promise.
“They have refused to keep their word twice and this time we will not go back until we pay everything,” he added.
“How can you go out and tell the lecturers that we have to pay and then go to the office and carry on with business as usual.”
The National Treasury has pledged to distribute the entire amount in the 2024/2025 financial year in the Supplementary Budget II.
The implementation will be done in three phases, with the first phase, worth Sh4.3 billion, covering nine months until June 2025.
The remaining part will be disbursed in two installments of sh 2.7 billion each.
