The government has threatened to withhold February salaries from lecturers who are on strike, but the Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) remains resolute.
Uasu secretary general Constantine Wasonga announced that over 9,000 lecturers from 33 public universities and constituent colleges will hold weekly street demonstrations every Wednesday to push for the implementation of the 2013-2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Wasonga commended the striking lecturers for their commitment to the cause, saying,
I commend all our members for their continuing commitment to the strike that is becoming protracted in the face of non-responsive government.
The lecturers presented a petition to the Office of the Deputy President William Ruto, while Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i directed vice chancellors to take action against lecturers who have absconded duties for nearly two months.
Matiang’i stated,
Why would they want to make money where they have actually not earned? They have not worked for it. The crisis we have currently is on values where people want to reap where they have not sown and is very unacceptable.
The government had offered a counter-proposal of Sh10 billion, but union leaders argued that it was insufficient to cater to the needs of over 30,000 representatives from Uasu, Kenya Universities Staff Union, and Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational institutions, Hospital and Allied workers.
The recovered account cited reporting by Mediamax.
