Education CS moves to avert lecturer's strike

From left: Machakos Teachers Training College Chief principal Joyce Mabwai, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba and Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joe Ogutu during the launch of Scaling Digital Skills at the institution on October 24, 2024.[John Muia, Standard]

The government invited university workers unions to a meeting to forestall the looming lecturer’s strike set to begin on October 29, 2024.

The Standard has established that the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) is set to meet with Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba for further negotiations before the strike notice expires.

This is after a team set up to negotiate on behalf of the government with the lecturer’s failed to reach a middle ground on Tuesday.

According to a senior UASU official, if the upcoming talks with the Cabinet Secretary do not resolve their issues, the strike will proceed as planned.

UASU issued a seven-day strike notice on Tuesday following a breakdown in talks over the implementation of the return-to-work formula. 

In a letter to the councils of 35 public universities and three constituent colleges, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga stated that the strike notice would take effect from October 22, 2024. 

The union blames the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) for failing to finalise collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) for the 2013-2017, 2017-2021, and 2021-2025 periods.

The union’s demands include salary increases for university staff, which the government had agreed to implement as part of the 2021-2025 CBA. The agreed salary increases were to take effect in October 2024, with increments between seven and 10 per cent, but this has not been honoured.