Members of the University Academic Staff Union(UASU) on Monday, November 18, embarked on a procession to present their grievances to the government over the industrial strike that has paralysed learning across the universities in the country.
The procession began at the University of Nairobi graduation square where the university staff announced that they would be marching towards the Central Business District(CBD) of Nairobi to present their grievances.
Key government offices that the dons will visit to petition the government include the Ministry of Education and Treasury offices in Nairobi.
''We are also paying taxes and therefore we must be given car loans and mortgage schemes. Lecturers throughout the country must be promoted, you cannot equate us with people who are promoted after 3 years, then you say that we are equivalent while we stagnate in one job group for 20 years,'' Constantine Wesonga, UASU Secretary General stated during the processional march.
The lecturers expect to be addressed by senior figures at the offices on the action the government is taking to ensure that the strike that is entering its third week is addressed.
Students and other members of the academic staff joined the UASU members who sang solidarity songs as they raised banners calling for the government to address the Collective Bargaining Agreement(CBA).
The strike began on October 29 after key negotiations with the government failed to sail through with UASU Secretary General Constantine Wesonga advising the members to stay off their jobs.
Wesonga accused the government of trying to hoodwink them into accepting dubious proposals that he stated were manipulative.
''I want to tell UASU members wherever they are, just work today up to midnight, after which you should down your tools,'' Wesonga announced.
''If you have given a member 7 per cent it will show, we are not dealing with illiterate people who don’t know how to calculate 7 and 4 per cent so you cannot cheat them. You want UASU officials to be part of that manipulation, that one we will not do,'' he added.
There has been a stalemate over the strike with key attempts to end the strike failing to take place after the Interpublic Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) failed to provide documents approving a Ksh4.3 billion offer to the University dons under the UASU banner.
In the meeting of the National Assembly Educational Committee chaired by Tinderet MP Julius Melly, on November 5, Wesonga maintained that the Union would not accept the verbal offer of Ksh4.3 Billion against the Ksh9.7 billion as contained in the Collective Bargaining Agreement signed in September 2024.
"The union wishes to be shown how the CBA has been implemented. We are requesting that let us not deviate from how we have been implementing our CBAs by bringing in new parameters," Constantine maintained.
