Striking varsity staff to get arrears in June

The Treasury yesterday maintained its hardline stance on implementing Sh10 billion salary and allowances deal with university staff signed earlier this year, dimming hopes of an end to a strike that entered day five.

Treasury PS Kamau Thugge said the Sh10 billion would be paid in two tranches up to the end of June 2018.

Members of university workers union boycotted work from Monday insisting the Sh10 billion be paid at once and rejected the Sh4.7 billion that the Treasury has wired to the university accounts.

“There was a full budgetary allocation of Sh10 billion. It was to be paid over two fiscal years,” Dr Thugge said yesterday.

This signals the work boycott could take long after the workers insisted the deadline for wiring the Sh10 billion ended on June 30.

“The final implementation date, June 30 has passed, while university staff have not yet received the pay that was mutually agreed upon, signed and registered in Employment and Labour Relations Court,” said Universities Staff Academic Union secretary-general Constantine Wasonga.

The university lecturers ended a 54-day strike over pay in February after the union signed an agreement with the government in March for a 17.5 per cent pay increase and a 3.9 per cent rise in housing allowances.

University vice chancellors yesterday confirmed that they had already received the Sh4.8 billion and are processing the cash to wire to the accounts of the employees.