Staff working in public universities have turned to the National Assembly, seeking urgent action to resolve a protracted salary dispute that has stretched over four years and disrupted higher education operations.
The conflict has pitted unions representing staff against government officials from the Treasury and Ministry of Education, Science and Technology (MOEST).
The petition, filed by the National Secretary Generals of the University Academic Staff Union (UASU), Dr. Constantine Wesonga Opiyo, and the Kenya University Staff Union (KUSU), Dr. Charles Mukhwaya, was read to the House by Deputy Speaker Gladys Boss.
She noted that the dispute revolves around finalizing payments owed to roughly 30,000 academic and support staff in public universities.
The unions recall that on October 28 2019, the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) and UASU signed the 2017-2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), which was subsequently registered with the Employment and Labour Relations Court.
"In order to fund the 2017-2021 CBAs, Parliament approved in May 2020 the Supplementary II Budget Estimates for the FY 2019/2020 which contained allocation for the CBA, and subsequently appropriated the funds under the Supplementary Appropriations Act, 2020," the petition states.
The unions say that the Treasury, via MOEST, released 6.6 billion shillings on 3 July 2020 as initial funding for the CBAs, covering part of the salary arrears. The remaining 2.2 billion shillings, which was expected in the 2021/2022 budget, was cut to 2 billion, leaving 200 million shillings unpaid.
The petitioners argue that this failure to pay full basic salaries violates the terms of service for academic staff, including Professors, Associate Professors, Senior Lecturers, Lecturers, Assistant Lecturers, Tutorial Fellows, and Graduate Assistants. No public university has cleared these arrears in full.
Deputy Speaker Boss highlighted the legal history, saying: "The matter was taken to the Employment and Labour Relations Court vide Case No. ELRC CBA and 3 of 2020 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The matter was subsequently determined by the said Court and it proceeded to the Court of Appeal, where it was settled in their favor, making interim orders for partial implementation."
The unions estimate the full cost of implementing the 2017-2021 CBA at 16.57 billion shillings, including pensions and other liabilities, a figure that contrasts sharply with the 8.8 billion shillings calculated by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission at the request of the Treasury.
The workers have also linked the resolution of these arrears to the negotiation of their next pay deal for 2025-2029. “We will not return to work until even the new 2025-2029 CBA is discussed and agreed upon,” they stated in their petition.
Under Standing Order 225(2)(b), Deputy Speaker Boss formally referred the petition to the Departmental Committee on Education for further examination.
The committee, chaired by Julius Melly, is scheduled to meet Treasury and MOEST officials next week to deliberate on the matter.