Learning in public universities is set to be paralysed from next week as the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) officially issued a 7-day strike notice.
Speaking during a press conference on Wednesday, September 11, UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga stated that over 30,000 of its members would be downing their tools following the failure of the government to implement the 2021-2025 Collective Bargain Agreement (CBA).
The SG maintained that there would be no learning across the universities and their constituent colleges beginning Wednesday, September 18, 2024.
"The 30,000 university employees shall withdraw their labour on September 18, 2024, until their demands are met. There will be no teaching or any work activity in the universities with the effect of the expiry of this strike notice." Wesonga read his statement.
Further, the university workers also voiced concerns over the new university funding model, describing it as discriminatory.
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UASU officials opined that the government needed to scrap the entire funding model or engage with stakeholders for a win-win solution.
"The union is very clear. We have rejected the new funding model because we have not been told the disbursement method. How will it be disbursed?" the official posed.
"With the debts in the universities, if you give them the money, they will pay the debts. Where will they get the salaries? How can my family's background also determine my future?"
The announcement by UASU piles more pressure on the Ministry of Education which was faced with a teachers' strike across the country during the beginning of the Third Term.
Both the Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) and the Kenya Union of Post-Primary Education Teachers (KUPPET) called off their strike to allow for talks with the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).
