PHOTO | DENISH OCHIENG Uasu secretary-general Muga K’Olale (left) and
Kusu boss Charles Mukhwaya (centre) address the Press in Nairobi on
January 12, 2013.
NATION
Lecturers on Sunday issued a fresh
strike threat to protest failure by university administrations to fully
implement a pay deal they signed in 2012.
The
lecturers said the vice-chancellors had failed to obey the Collective
Bargaining Agreement that gave them Sh7.8 billion that was to be paid in
two tranches.
The Universities Academic Staff Union
(Uasu) and Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu) held a joint media
conference yesterday where they gave the government only today to
resolve their grievances or face a strike.
Uasu represents lecturers while Kusu is for all professional workers at the universities.
The
union officials said they wrote to the Ministry of Education on
December 31 giving the Cabinet Secretary 14 days to respond to their
concerns regarding the pay dispute.
They said they would meet today to issue a strike notice if the government did not act.
The
lecturer’s strike comes just four days after teachers suspended their
boycott after reaching a deal with the Teachers Service Commission on
the contested issue of promotion.
The dons raised a
number of issues, including using the money for other purposes such as
paying pension and gratuities, allocating funds to university colleges
that were not in existence when the agreement was sealed and depositing
of the money in personal accounts.
Uasu secretary-general Muga K’Olale said their patience was running out and they were ready to boycott lecturer rooms.
“The
tension in our universities is reaching fever-pitch. The salary review
and the house allowances have not been done as agreed. We have realised
that most of the money has been used for other purposes not agreed on,”
Mr K’Olale said.
He said they had given the
government until Monday to respond to their concerns before making a
decision to stay away from work.
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