Pay talks collapse as lecturers reject offer

Talks between lecturers and the Government on Tuesday hit a snag after the tutors rejected a counter- offer of between 23 and 25 percent for two years.

The 9,000 lecturers have insisted on an increase of between 39 and 41 percent for the four years. Universities management chief negotiator Prof Isaac Mbeche, who is also the acting Vice-Chancellor of University of Nairobi put the figure at Sh7 billion adding that together with pension it will rise Sh10 billion.

Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) Secretary General Constantine Wasonga said talks stalled due to lack of seriousness on the part of the government.

“We have done our best but it appears the Government is not serious at all. We have not had a house allowance increase for the last eight years yet the government is denying us the increase again,” said Dr Wasonga.

The lecturers have accused the State of failing to factor in four percent annual increase from 2017 to 2021 as well as giving lecturers zero increase on house allowance.

The Government, they said, has also ignored two years which are 2017 and 2018 and instead indicated that the implementation period would be effective July 1, 2019.

Lecturers maintained that CBAs last for four years in the country and wondered why the universities had cut the period to two years.

On salary increase, document presented at the meeting indicate that a professor currently earning a basic salary of between Sh170,681 and Sh248.989 would from effective July take home between Sh199,941 and 274,540. That pay was to increase next year to between Sh209,694 and Sh283,087.

An associate professor earning between Sh145, 441 and Sh203, 605 was to earn between Sh171, 613 and Sh238, 902 from July. From next year, the basic pay jumps to between Sh180, 337 and Sh250, 668.

The proposal also indicates that a senior lecturer who currently earns between Sh112,038 and Sh159,720 was to pocket between Sh136,347 and Sh194,852 this year, increasing to between Sh144,450 and Sh206,563 by July next year.

Lecturers earning Sh99,409 to Sh140,683 were to earn Sh107,795 to Sh155,438, a pay scale that moves to Sh110,591 to Sh160,357 next year.

The Government was also proposing that an assistant lecturer with a pay of between Sh83,598 and Sh118,348 should take home Sh94,281 to Sh134,523, growing to between Sh97,842 and Sh139,915 next year. The proposal also wants a graduate assistant who takes home between Sh46,978 and Sh66,978 to earn between Sh55,041 and Sh78,659 this year and between Sh57,729 and Sh82,552 next year.