- Uasu is demanding the release of Sh5 billion deducted from lecturers' salaries to pay for their pension scheme, which the university failed to remit
- The dons were also agitating for payment of their delayed salaries for the month of July and August
Image: BY MATHEWS NDANYI
Talks to resolve the lecturers' strike at Moi University have collapsed after Uasu and the university council failed to agree on issues raised by the workers.
The Universities Academic Staff Union says they have recorded a disagreement in the reconciliation talks that had been hosted by the Ministry of Labour in Eldoret.
Labour officer Carolyne Chemursoi, who was chairing the failed reconciliation meetings, will issue disagreement certificates to the union and the university council.
This is in line with the labour laws and means the strike by the 900 lecturers will be upscaled.
Uasu Secretary Moi University chapter, Nyabuta Ojuki, said they would involve provisions in the law on how to proceed with the strike.
“We have held several meetings but eventually the talks have collapsed mainly because the university council, which is our employer, failed to commit itself on any of the issues we raised,” Ojuki said.
Among the grievances are the failure to implement CBA agreements, including the latest one covering the 2021-25 period.
Uasu is also demanding the release of Sh5 billion deducted from lecturers' salaries to pay for their pension scheme, which the university failed to remit.
Chairman of the union at the university, Richard Okero, said the handover of the money was part of the pre-conditions during the negotiations.
“We will not allow any more suffering for our members by calling off the strike. If we can’t be assured of our pension, that means miserable lives in the future and that is totally unacceptable,” Okero said.
The union also wants Sh1.3 billion deducted from the workers for servicing bank loans to be released.
The staff have suffered for a long while, Okero said, adding that 53 employees have been sued by a bank for defaulting on loans, yet the money was deducted by the university but not remitted.
The dons were also agitating for payment of their delayed salaries for the month of July and August.
The Ministry of Labour had summoned for reconciliation meetings in a bid to resolve the strike, which is now in its fourth week.
The talks took place following a request by the university council chairman Humphrey Njoroge, who asked the ministry to mediate.
Chemursoi chaired four meetings where no agreement was reached.
Njoroge and VC professor Isaac Kosgey attended the last meeting on Tuesday when the talks collapsed.
The union insisted it will not call off the strike until the university meets their demands.
“They have continued to give us false promises and unless they pay, we will not resume work,” Ojuki said.
Two weeks ago, Njoroge wrote to Uasu secretary general Constantine Wasonga urging the dons to resume work as their issues were being addressed, but the union declined.
Wasonga said the university has to comply with the lecturers' demands, failure to which services will be paralysed with a full scale strike involving all workers.
The secretary general accused the government of neglecting the institutions of higher learning and said they would call for all universities to participate in the strike.
Last week, the union's national officials led the lecturers in demonstrations in Eldoret town to push for payment of delayed salaries and implementation of their 2017-2021 CBA.
The union has also declared a dispute over the 2021-25 CBA.