This archive report was first published on 30 August 2021.
On August 30, 2021, the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) made a significant decision to suspend its national strike, which was set to begin on the same day and would have paralyzed all 35 public universities.
The strike was called in response to the stalled implementation of the 2017-2021 collective bargaining agreement (CBA) by majority of the public universities, prompting Uasu to issue a strike notice on August 23.
However, in a statement, Uasu National Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga announced that the union has decided to suspend the industrial action to allow for more talks with government representatives.
"Uasu national executive committee has directed that the union suspends its strike notice to give a final chance to dialogue," Dr Wasonga said.
During a crisis meeting held on Sunday in Nairobi, Uasu's top executive members met with the Principal Secretary for University Education and Research Simon Nabukwesi to review the progress on the conciliation process initiated by the Ministry of Labour.
As a result of the meeting, the parties involved agreed to review the outcome of the talks between the union and Inter-Public Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) under the auspices of the National Implementation Committee (NIC) over the stalled implementation of the CBA.
While suspending the strike, Dr Wasonga noted that the NIC has agreed that all public universities immediately submit to it returns for purposes of audit and enforcement of the compliance with the 2017-2021 CBA.
The union also called for a review of the orders of the Employment and Labour Relations Court issued on August 26.
Dr Wasonga thanked the union members for their readiness to fight for the "dignity of the dons".
