Universities Staff Union wants Moi University to sort out more than Sh4 billion in arrears owed to lecturers.
The lecturers at the university have been part of the current national strike, but the Universities Academic Staff Union branch secretary at the university, Robert Oduori, said their 2017 and 2021 CBAs were yet to be fully implemented. He said the government has yet to pay Sh1.2 billion owed to lecturers.
The unionist said more than Sh3 billion owed to the pension scheme at the university was yet to be settled.
He said the issues at the university must be sorted out so they do not remain on strike if and when the national strike is resolved.
“We are part of the national strike, but we insist the pending issues at Moi University should be sorted out so we do not remain on strike once the national boycott is called off,” Oduori said.
He said the university management had reneged on its previous deals with its workers, causing continued suffering for the dons who keep wasting time pushing for their rights.
“We should spend more time in class and not on chasing our rights or fighting for survival because of mistreatment by the university management,” Oduori said.
He said the lecturers were tired of frequent strikes, which end up affecting learners and parents.
“We don’t enjoy strikes, but we are always pushed to do so so that we get our rates. We can avoid strike situations if the government and the universities get serious about dealing with the challenges we face,” Oduori said.
The Moi University lecturers had joined the nationwide strike to push for the implementation of the 2025–29 CBA agreement and a salary increment.
Oduori said they would remain on the boycott until their demands were fully met.
“The government must act fast and end this matter by implementing what we want if they want the strike to end. If not, we are out for as long as it takes,” he said.
Oduori urged UASU officials not to call off the strike on the basis of promissory notes, but to ensure everything is negotiated and implemented.
He said an offer of a three per cent annual basic salary increment was an abuse that they were not ready to accept.
Oduori said the lecturers would not accept proposals by some government officials that lecturers’ salaries should be paid from fees collected from students.
National trustee of UASU, Jane Michaels, described the offer of a three per cent increment on basic salary as an abuse, considering the inflation rate currently stood at more than six per cent.
She said lecturers were service providers and could not generate their salaries from learners as suggested.
“We are public servants and must be paid from the Treasury. We have not heard of police officers being told to collect salaries from people they arrest or doctors being told to collect their pay from patients,” Michaels said.
She said dons could not be treated as public servants only when taxes like SHA and the housing levy were being collected, yet considered not to be civil servants when it came to the payment of salaries and other benefits.
