Lecturers strike to continue as MPs efforts fail

Lecturers strike to continue as MPs efforts fail

The ongoing lecturers strike is set to continue after efforts by a joint Education Committee of the National Assembly and the Senate failed to unlock the standoff between the dons and the government.

The Ministry of Education and the National Treasury insisted that the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) provide guidelines on the lecturers’ salaries before they could table a counter offer to the lecturers’ unions.

Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thuge demanded that the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) withdraw the case it filed in the court against SRC evaluating and determining their salaries.

“We have this framework that has been developed where SRC gives recommendations of salaries to us, and it’s very important that we maintain that framework because if we violet that framework for one person then it means exceptions can be made for all of us, and that raises the risk of going back to ad hoc determination of salaries” he said.

Officials of the unions, however, dismissed the allegations, saying the court case had nothing to do with determination of salaries.

UASU Secretary General Constantine Wasonga said there is a court ruling in place directing that SRC cannot determine CBA negotiations.

The two were adamant that the strike will only be called off when a counter offer is given and negotiations are ongoing.

The chairperson of the Vice Chancellors committee Francis Aduol said they were ready to make a counter offer but will only do so after they get an indication from the Treasury on what percentage they should offer lectures.

“There is no way we can make an offer to the unions before the ministry tells us that this is the money or this is the percentage we can negotiate with, I can assure if the ministry tells us that the offer they can make is zero percent we shall call the unions” said Aduol.

The Education Committee led by chair Julius Melly asked the two sides to negotiate to end the strike.

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Education Committee UASU lecturers' strike.

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