Learning in all public universities will from today, Thursday be palaysed, after lectures declared a national strike.
The University Academic Staff Union and Kenya Union of Domestic Hotels and Institutions, and allied work members are demanding the implementation of a working Collective Bargaining Agreement.
The lecturers have decided to push on with the strike, which is against a court order issued by judge Hellen Wasilwa on Wednesday.
The leaders of the various unions had issued a strike notice last week on Thursday, demanding the implementation of the CBA that dates back four years ago.
“Since when did a member of the National Assembly earn more than a professor?", questions Constantine Wasonga, Secretary General, UASU.
“The lecturers’s welfare have been neglected for long, exploited and abandoned," he added.
Their announcement came a few hours after the employment and relations court extended orders stopping the strike, with the officials claiming for the implementation of the CBA, as their members are being paid under terms that expired in 2013.
The said CBA on the other hand is set to expire in six months, despite having not been implemented.
“We have seen that they were waiting for job evaluation from SRC. Who is this person from SRC that can evaluate a professor,? Queried Wasonga.
“And with the powers conferred to me, I want to declare this strike officially launched,” he added.
They insist they will not go back to class unless the CBA is implemented.
All parties in the case are needed to appear in court in February 1, 2017 to provide an update on the negotiations.