Resolve varsities’ pay pact row to avert strike

The public universities have become synonymous with strikes by lecturers and other workers, financial woes and other crises. These challenges make it extremely difficult for the institutions to concentrate on their core business, which is training high-level manpower for the country. It is highly unlikely that the lecturers, who are spending a lot of time protesting and fighting with the administration and the Education authorities for better working conditions, will find the time to properly do their research, teach and mentor students.

The stage is again being set for yet another battle, just when there was hope that a breakthrough had finally been realised. The lecturers and non-academic staff have just issued a new strike notice, accusing the government of failing to honour the return-to-work formula signed less than a month ago.

There was optimism on September 26, when the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) and the government inked the deal. However, they are feeling cheated after the government allegedly failed to meet its end of the bargain. They argue that they have been left with no option except to go back to the streets and air their grievances once again. They have thus given the government a one-week ultimatum.

Uasu signed the pact, ending a nationwide strike after agreeing on a basic monthly salary and to incorporate a seven to 10 per cent increment in the October pay. This was the implementation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the workers and their employer. The lecturers have for three years been waiting to negotiate the CBA, as no progress has been made since they tabled their demands in 2020.

The new row is bound to heighten tension and anxiety in the institutions and disrupt academic programmes. The lecturers had only agreed to call off the strike after the government promised to speed up the implementation of the return-to-work formula. The Ministry of Labour, which brokered the agreement, should step forward and avert a devastating standoff to enable teaching to continue for the benefit of the students, their families and the country.