Uasu Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga rejected the invite and insisted that talks should focus on a fresher pay deal under 2017-2021 Collective bargaining agreement whose talks start in September.
Yesterday, Vice-Chancellor Committee Chairman Francis Aduol said they were still optimistic that universities staff will turn up for the talks.
Prof Aduol said Sh4.8billion has already been received by universities and are being processed by respective institutions.
Staff in public universities yesterday rejected new round of talks with their employer over the implementation of Sh10 billion salary and allowances deal signed earlier this year.
Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum had invited the three unions—Universities Staff Academic Union (Uasu), Kenya University Staff Union (Kusu) and Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA) at the ICEA building in Nairobi.
Uasu Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga rejected the invite and insisted that talks should focus on a fresher pay deal under 2017-2021 Collective bargaining agreement whose talks start in September.
“We are saying a resounding no to phased payment. Education Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i should keep off the issue as he is behind the mess,” said Dr Wasonga.
They say the government had agreed to release Sh10 billion before the end of June under the agreement but so far had only released Sh4.7 billion. The lecturers, members of Uasu, ended a 54-day strike over pay in February and signed an agreement with the government in March for a 17.5 per cent pay increase and a 3.9 per cent increase in housing allowances.
Yesterday, Vice-Chancellor Committee Chairman Francis Aduol said they were still optimistic that universities staff will turn up for the talks.
“We have invited them for these talks so that we can find an amicable solution to this problem,” said Prof Aduol who also doubles as secretary to the council’s forum.
Prof Aduol said Sh4.8billion has already been received by universities and are being processed by respective institutions.
Under the deal that was to benefit 27,000 staff, Sh6 billion was to cater for salaries and allowances of lecturers , Sh1 billion was to go to lower cadre non-academic staff who work in the institutions, while Sh3 billion was to be paid to middle-level staff in the universities.
The deal for the payment was signed in March and ended a more than one month job boycott by the workers which had paralysed learning in public universities across the country.
University of Nairobi was to get the highest amount at Sh1.8billion while the lowest allocation of Sh33million was to go to Garissa University College.
Dr Wasonga said it is unfair for an intern to earn more than his lecturer insisting that they will stay put until their demands are met.
If implemented fully, the highest paid lecturer will take home up to Sh1 million in accumulated arrears and the lowest paid about Sh400, 000. The lowest paid professor, who earns Sh144, 672, will now take home Sh171, 207 a month. The amount translates to accrued arrears of Sh745, 953 and the least paid academic staff – an assistant lecturer – will earn Sh85, 159, up from Sh69, 794, with the highest paid getting Sh121, 121, up from Sh99, 642.
Under the deal, all university academic staff members were to enjoy a house allowance of 3.9 per cent while the academic staff were to get a salary increase of 17.5 per cent.
The university staff had wanted a 30 per cent basic salary increase per year for four years and a 20 per cent rise in house allowance per year for the same period.
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