Public learning in universities has remained at a halt for the eighth day running as the strike by lecturers and non-teaching staff has escalated. The workers are demanding that the government release the Sh7.9 billion arrears of their salaries immediately.
In response to the stand-off, members of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU) conducted peaceful protests through Nairobi.
The groups handed over their petitions to Parliament, the National Treasury, and the Ministry of Education, respectively, after reaching there. The protesting workers said the statement by Education Cabinet Secretary Ezekiel Ogamba, in which he ordered them to come back to work or face disciplinary action, was “inconsequential” to them.
On the contrary, they alleged that the CS was disregarding court orders and using intimidation instead of conduction talks to solve the deadlock. “There is no one in our lecture halls because the government has gone back on its promises. We are not going to come back to class until the missed payments are cleared,” union leaders stated at the rally.
Not only that, the unions went on to blame the government for persistently dragging its feet on the negotiations for the Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs), which they say is the main cause of payment delays that has led to staff in the universities suffering financially. In the meantime, thousands of students are affected at public universities all over the country.
The academic calendar is under the threat of more interruptions if the stalemate continues. Despite the warnings from the Ministry of Education, the unions confirmed that they would not move an inch.
They continued to assert that talks and the clearance of the Sh7.9 billion arrears would bring back peace in universities.