Lecturers' strike called off

By Peter Ochieng

Normal learning activities are expected to resume in public universities across the country, after lecturers and workers called off their strike on Thursday evenning.

The strike had disrupted learning activities for over a week, before the lecturers and workers through their unions - UASU and KUSU arrived at a return to work formula with the government.

The industrial action started last week, after lecturers and workers cited delays in finalizing the 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), with the government.

Labour Cabinet Secretary (CS) Alfred Mutua announced the end of the strike, after a day long of negotiations.

"This strike, involving university lecturers, non-teaching staff, and various workers’ unions, was resolved after a day-long meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection headquarters, bringing much-needed relief to thousands of students and staff," he said.

The agreement was brokered between the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), and the relevant unions.

As part of the return-to-work formula signed with UASU, the strike was called off immediately, with no risk of victimization for union members.

"Universities will now implement an enhanced monthly basic salary, with increments ranging from 7% to 10%.

Additionally, an automatic annual increment of 4% of the basic salary will be implemented for the duration of the (CBA) cycle, running from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2025," Mutua said.

"We also agreed to harmonize the retirement age for academic staff, including graduate assistants, tutorial fellows, and assistant lecturers, at 70 years," added the former Machakos governor.

For KUSU members, the same salary increment of 7% to 10% was agreed upon, with the retirement age for non-academic staff, including those in teaching labs and university libraries, standardized at 65 years.

An inter-ministerial committee will meet for one month starting October 1, 2024, to address unresolved issues, including the harmonization of allowances, medical cover, internal CBAs, enhanced staffing, and budgets for promotions, car loans, and mortgage schemes for public universities.