University lecturers on Monday put on hold a strike set for January 20 after the government promised to factor their demands in a March supplementary budget.
The University Academic Staff Union on Monday met government officials following a dispute over a Collective Bargain Agreement signed late last year.
The union on Thursday gave a seven-day strike notice beginning today to protest the delayed implementation of the 2017-2021 CBA.
But the union wants a firmer commitment from the government to rescind the strike notice.
“We are in negotiations with the government and we want that them to put its commitment in writing before we can agree to call off the strike,” Uasu secretary general Constantine Wasonga told the Star on Monday.
Wasonga said the pay deal was signed on October 28 and implementation was to commence on November 30.
In the deal, academic staff were to get a 5.4 per cent increment on their basic salaries and an extra Sh1.8 billion to cover their pension.
However, the government had remained tight-lipped on the way forward prompting the strike.
The union has raised concerns over a bid to lower the implementation cost of the CBA from Sh13.8 billion to Sh8.8 billion.
"We have asked the ministry to implement the deal as it was agreed. Pay all arrears between 2017 to date and we will not disrupt any learning activities," Wasonga said.
The CBA covers five years from 2017, which means the lecturers are left with only 18 months before its expiry.
The CBA negotiated is by three universities workers unions – University Academic Staff Union, Kenya University Staff Union and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Education Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers.
