The ongoing Nationwide lecturers’ strike that has paralyzed learning in the 31 public universities is far from coming to an end after dons vowed not to step back to class until when their demands will be met.
As the strike enters its 41st day, over 600,000 students have had to face the wrath of the fight between the government and lecturers.
Speaking during the release of Universities and Colleges selection results, the Cabinet Secretary of Education Amina Mohammed ordered lecturers to go back to class following a court order, a move that was not well received by the dons, through the Universities Staff Academic Union (UASU) and Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU) who accused the government of failing to give any offers.
During a press conference, the two unions said that there is no goodwill from the government and threatened to stage “demonstration of different species” in the next two weeks should their concerns remain unresolved.
UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said the union would not engage in any form of renegotiations and insisted that their focus had shifted to the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Employment and Labour Relations Court judge Onesmus Makau on Friday declared the strike illegal and ordered all lecturers to report to work from today and the negotiations to begin.
The lecturers have been out of lecture halls since March 1, as they demanded a counter-proposal from the State for the 2017-2021 CBA which is estimated to cost 38 billion shillings.
The estimated amount under the CBA is meant to cater for salary increases, car loans, mortgages and health insurance for university staff. They also want universities to sign internal CBAs and vice chancellors to remit about Sh3.56 billion in accrued pension arrears from the 2010-2013 and 2013-2017 CBAs.