University lecturers who went on strike on Wednesday demanding better pay have vowed to go on with the industrial action, despite an order issued the same day by the Employment and Labour Relations Court temporarily stopping the same.
The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu), which was sued by the Inter-Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IUCCF), dismissed the order as defective and inconsequential since it was issued after the strike had started. The strike entered the second day yesterday on campuses across the country.
Some lecturers who had turned up to teach at the University of Nairobi were ejected from the lecture halls and forced to join their colleagues in picketing and demanding for the implementation of their delayed 2021 – 2025 collective bargaining agreement. The UoN is scheduled to hold its 71st graduation ceremony at the main campus today (Friday).
A graduation ceremony at Karatina University slated for Friday next week has been postponed as learning in public institutions ground to a halt after lecturers and staff across the country went on strike.
The graduation ceremony had been widely publicised but the graduating class will now have to wait longer.
The head of communication at the institution Pauline Wanjiku confirmed the postponement of the ceremony saying it would “hopefully” be held on October 18.
“Since the order was made on September 18, 2024, it takes effect on the said and neither operates retrospectively nor affects any legal actions the respondents [Uasu] may have taken prior to the order of September 18 2024,” reads an advisory by the union lawyer Titus Koceyo.
He says that Uasu called the industrial action on September 11 2024 through a strike notice long before the court issued the order. The union issued the notice alongside the Kenya Universities Staff Union (Kusu).
“Consequently, and in light of the fact that you are not calling for any other new strike nor issuing any new strike notice after the September 18 2024, the current ongoing strike is not in breach of any court order,” the advisory reads.
Mr Koceyo observes that the court order neither quashed nor suspended the strike notice by Uasu which formed the basis of the go slow.
The IUCCF filed a petition to the ELRC seeking a ban on the strike until the matter is heard and determined by the court. Justice Dr Jacob Gakeri issued the order temporarily restraining Uasu and lecturers from “calling, instigating, or inciting others to take part in any strike”.
The IUCCF argued that the strike was premature, unlawful, and conducted in bad faith and had disrupted critical negotiations. They argued that the strike notice allegedly violated the Labour Relations Act, 2007, and the process for strikes and industrial actions.
The IUCCF which employs staff for universities sought an injunction to prevent the strike, asserting that it would significantly disrupt operations, impact academic calendars, and cause irreparable damage that could not be remedied by damages.
The universities further argued that they had not refused to engage in discussions with the union, claiming that the action by Uasu was in bad faith.
"The respondent's actions are in bad faith and amount to ambush, sabotage, and will hinder amicable and continued negotiations and deliberations which are underway and meant to unravel the issues raised by the respondent," reads the suit papers.
Reporting by David Muchunguh, Mercy Simiyu and Stephen Munyiri
