‘Lecturers’ strike has been called off following successful negotiations’ – CS Mutua announces

Cabinet Secretary for Labour and Social Protection Alfred Mutua has announced an end to the lecturers’ strike that had disrupted learning in public universities.

Taking to his official social media accounts on Thursday, September 26, 2024, Mutua stated that the involved parties had agreed to call off the strike following successful negotiations.

Mutua on deal with lecturers

Mutua announced that the strike had been resolved after a day-long meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection headquarters.

According to Mutua, the agreement was brokered between the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals, and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA).

“I am pleased to announce that the two-week strike disrupting learning in public universities across the country has been called off following successful negotiations. This strike, involving university lecturers, non-teaching staff, and various workers’ unions, was resolved after a day-long meeting at the Ministry of Labour and Social Protection headquarters, bringing much-needed relief to thousands of students and staff.

“The agreement was brokered between the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF), the Federation of Kenya Employers (FKE), and three key unions: the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU), the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), and the Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals, and Allied Workers (KUDHEIHA),” Mutua stated.

𝐃𝐄𝐀𝐋 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐔𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐎 𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐊𝐄, 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐘 𝐇𝐈𝐊𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐔𝐍𝐈𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐈𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐑𝐒

I am pleased to announce that the two-week strike disrupting learning in public… pic.twitter.com/QYyoFHoBQv

— Dr. Alfred N. Mutua (@DrAlfredMutua) September 26, 2024

Ending lecturers’ strike

This comes just a day after Mutua constituted an inter-ministerial negotiation team to look into the concerns raised by the striking university staff.

The CS on Wednesday, September 25, revealed that the team will consist of representatives from the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Education, the National Treasury, the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), public universities, the State Corporations Advisory Committee (SCAC), and the staff unions.

Mutua indicated that the inter-ministerial team would help strike a deal that would end the learning disruption that has been caused by the staff strike.

“This committee will address the key concerns raised by the unions and work toward a return-to-work agreement,” CS Mutua’s statement read in part.

The lecturers have been pushing for the implementation of their 2021- 2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Dons and staff affiliated with the UASU are agitated over stalled negotiations on the 2021-25 collective bargaining agreement which hasn’t been implemented since 2017.