Muga K’Olale of Uasu addresses journalists at the University of Nairobi on January 18 about the strike. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU
Union leaders remained defiant on Wednesday even as the Employment and Labour Relations Court asked university lecturers to suspend their bid to boycott work and give chance to talks over salary increment.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) officials said strike will go on from Thursday and continue until the government meets their pay demands.
The declaration came shortly after Lady Justice Hellen Wasilwa directed the parties to engage in negotiations before resorting to industrial action.
The Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum of Federation of Kenya Employers had sued the Uasu after it issued a January 12 strike notice to the councils of 27 public universities.
“I see goodwill to forestall the strike, I will encourage parties to continue with negotiations this week and in the meantime, the interim orders are extended,” Justice Wasilwa said.
Uasu has on the other hand maintained that their 2013/2017 Collective Bargaining Agreement must be implemented to cover the period from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2017.
But the employers’ lobby, through lawyer Grace Kanyiri, told court that the strike would jeopardise talks that had started way back in 2012 hence the need for it to be stopped for being unlawful.
“We have been holding consultative meetings and negotiations on the CBA which are yet to be concluded but are at a fairly advanced stage, the strike notice is in bad faith, amounts to sabotage and will hamper the deliberations,” Ms Kanyiri said.
The Union however, through its lawyer Titus Koceyo told court that the forum had failed to disclose that the disputed CBA is set to expire within the next six months yet it has not been acted upon for over four years now.
He wanted the court to set aside the orders stopping the strike before agreeing with the judge to give room for talks set to be held within two weeks and report the outcome.
“Uasu have been willing to talk from 2011, we sent a proposal to the forum in 2012 but they came up with a counter one on January 8, we are willing to sit down next week to talk,” Mr Koceyo said.
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