University Lecturers Strike Looming Over CBA
Lecturers at have threatened to strike on January 1, 2024, due to management’s refusal to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
National leaders from the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu), led by Secretary General Dr Constantine Wasonga, issued a strike warning on December 24, 2023.
“Having failed to comply with an earlier court ruling, the union hereby gives a seven-day strike notice which shall commence on January 1, 2024,” the union said in a statement.
According to the union, the university administration has failed to comply with an order issued by the Employment and Labour Relations Court in Nakuru earlier this year.
Following an unproductive consultation meeting between union officials and university management on December 22, 2023, at the Njoro-based school, the decision to strike has been made.
The statement declares, “The strike will persist until the university pays all academic staff the correct 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) salary scales at 100 percent.”
Additionally, the dons demand full payment for salary arrears deferred since 2020, a period marked by financial losses due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Since then, the dons and other personnel have received monthly compensation ranging from 60 to 68 percent.
Two years after declaring an end to the pandemic, the workforce continues to struggle in vain for the restoration of their full salary.
In 2022, the academic staff union took legal action, securing a court-ordered deadline for the institution to address their grievances within three months, concluding on June 30, 2021.
“The university should within 120 days being the end and beginning of the budget cycle demonstrate how they are implementing what is in the CBA,” the ruling by the court stated.
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According to the verdict, “in default, the union is free to initiate fresh strike action after giving the requisite notices, as the case may be.”
The financial statement signed by the university’s acting Chief Finance Officer Charles Wanjohi indicates that the university is currently operating with a budget deficit for the current fiscal year.
According to a statement issued during the recent interaction with the union, the university has a nearly Sh1 billion financial imbalance.
“During the 2023/2024 financial year, the university is operating with a deficit budget of Sh820,600,907 for the whole year arising from a Sh68,383,409 monthly deficits,” the statement goes on to say.
It goes on to say that the university needs Sh305,487,798 to continue without debt, compared to the available amount of Sh237,104,389.
The university’s planned funds for the year comprise Sh1.7 billion in government contributions and Sh1.07 billion in student tuition fees.
According to Wanjohi, in order for the institution to function successfully, it can only pay staff wages at 70% of the previous 60% and remit employer pension contributions at 5%.
According to Wanjohi, in order for the university to function efficiently, it must pay staff wages at 70%, up from 60% previously, and remit employer pension payments at 5%, up from 1% previously.
“We have also seen an introduction of a housing levy of Sh2.1 million and NSSF Tier 1 and Tier 2 at Sh1.4 million per month as payroll cost which has put a further burden on the university,” Wanjohi, the university’s president, said.
When calculated at 70%, the institution claims that staff pay and operations and maintenance costs total Sh233 million.
University Lecturers Strike Looming Over CBA
