Public universities lecturers will strike on March 1 over the failure by government to table a counter-offer to the 2017-2021 CBA.
Universities Academic Staff Union Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga on Wednesday issued a seven day strike notice after the Inter-public Universities Council Consultative Forum failed, for the fifth time, to table the offer.
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The absence of the offer means negotiations cannot proceed in a vacuum, Wasonga said.
“Today, therefore UASU gives a seven-day
strike notice to all the public universities and their constituent colleges. Universities’ academic staff will begin strike at 12.01 am Thursday, March 1, and remain on strike until the 2017-2021 CBA is concluded,” he said.
Speaking to the press in Nairobi,
Wasonga said
the strike notice will expire on midnight February 28, 2018.
He expressed disappointment with IPUCCF and the government over the lack of progress in the talks.
Prior to Wednesday, the other deadlines that were agreed to by both parties but violated by IPUCCF are May 31, 2017, July 1, 2017, January 31, 2018, and February 13, 2018.
The above deadlines were set after UASU presented its proposals for the four year
CBA in March 2017.
This was soon after they called off a 54-day strike following the signing of the 2013-2017 CBA on March 13.
Wasonga termed IPUCCF’s continued reneging on its pledges as “blatant violations of the universities’ workers fundamental rights and freedoms”.
“From the beginning of the negotiations, UASU has always acted in good faith, and has been a committed and active partner in the Joint Negotiations Committee while the universities councils and government have not demonstrated a commitment to complete the negotiations,” he pointed out.
The strike notice comes as another one by doctors who are lecturers lingers in the air over the non-payment of their allowances.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacist and Dentist Union Secretary-General Ouma Oluga suspended the strike on February 15 to give room for negotiations.
He gave the ministries of health and education, vice-chancellors of all public universities and IPUCCF until the end of March to pay the allowances plus the arrears or face a strike.
“We kindly implore you to move with speed to harmonize the emergency call and medical risk allowances including paying all arrears owed to doctor lecturers not later than the closure of March payroll,” Oluga said.
This means if the government fails to honour the deals, the strikes will
paralyse operations in all public universities, teaching and referral hospitals, medical schools and colleges of health sciences.
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