The
Universities Academic Staff Union has threatened to reignite strikes if the government fails to implement their 2013-2017 CBA.
The Collective Bargaining Agreement
is supposed to take effect on Friday.
It offers lecturers a 17.5 per cent increase in basic salaries and a 3.9 per cent hike on house allowance across the board.
Uasu Secretary General Constantine Wasonga said on Wednesday they are hoping the government will honour its end of the bargain and implement the CBA.
“So far the government is not saying anything so we are just waiting. After June 30 we are going to take a position," he told The Star on phone.
“All the CBAs Uasu has enjoyed in this country were negotiated and we went on strike for them to be implemented. We are used to this."
Uasu members will benefit from accrued payments dating back to June 30, 2013 once the deal is implemented.
The CBA was signed on March 13 this year, ending a 54-day strike that began on January 19.
The government awarded Uasu Sh6 billion under the agreement to cater for salary adjustments for its members.
The amount was part of the cumulative Sh10 billion the government awarded three university unions that were pushing for pay rises for members.
They are Uasu, Kenya University Staff Union and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA).
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Lecturers at Maasai Mara University are however exempt from the CBA as they are beneficiaries of previous higher pay increments.
The university’s exemption from the deal was meant to ensure uniformity in the agreed pay structure across all public universities.
Under the CBA, the highest paid academic staff - a professor - will be paid Sh247,925 per month up from Sh211,000.
A graduate assistant will pocket Sh77,550 up from a monthly pay of Sh66,000.
The implementation of the 2013-2017 CBA will pave way for negotiations for the 2017-2021 CBA.
The Inter Public University Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) and the government committed to immediately start new talks on the new CBA upon the implementation of the current one.