Universities Academic Staff Union National Chairperson Grace Nyongesa, Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga, and Organising Secretary Onesmus Mutio in Nairobi on September 10, 2025.
Lecturers in public universities have rejected proposals for negotiations suggested by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum’s (IPUCCF) for the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The Universities Academic Staff Union (Uasu) has termed the proposed Sh3.1 billion allocations “unacceptable and unrealistic,” even as a nationwide strike called by the union entered its sixth week on Wednesday.
In a letter dated October 21, 2025, addressed to SRC acting secretary and CEO Margaret Njoka, the Uasu said it “completely rejects” the IPUCCF’s counter-offer based on the SRC’s salary guidelines.
“The Universities Academic Staff Union hereby registers her complete rejection of the IPUCCF's counter-offer, and formally appeals the guiding SRC beacons for the 2025-2029 CBA received on October 10, 2025. Furthermore, your advisory and the attendant IPUCCF counter-offer fails to adhere to the principle of fair remuneration [Article 41(2)(a)] and the constitutional need to attract and retain necessary skills in the public sector,” said Uasu secretary-general Dr Constantine Wasonga.
Imposing final positions
The lecturers accused the SRC of imposing final positions instead of offering negotiable ranges, contrary to Article 41(5) of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to collective bargaining.
“The SRC beacons and the entire counter-offer by the IPUCCF is viewed as an imposition of final positions on the union rather than the provision of negotiation ranges, thereby undermining our right to genuine collective bargaining as enshrined in Article 41(5) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010,” said Dr Wasonga.
Dr Wasonga, while speaking to the Daily Nation, noted that the Sh3.1 billion proposed for the 2025–2029 CBA was inadequate and failed to reflect the current economic realities facing lecturers, including high inflation and rising cost of living.
“The Sh3.1 billion allocation does not address the current economic realities or compensate for the erosion of lecturers’ salaries by inflation. We cannot accept figures that fail to reflect the true value of academic labour,” Dr Wasonga said.
He further argued that the advisory contravenes the principles of fair remuneration and the constitutional need to attract and retain skilled professionals in public universities, as stipulated in Articles 41(2)(a) and 230(5)(b).
Dr Wasonga said the beacons for negotiations ignored UASU’s proposals and failed to reflect the rising cost of living, inflation, and erosion of lecturers’ purchasing power.
“Our core argument is that the beacons provided by the SRC only considered the IPUCCF’s recommendations, yet these were not arising from any conclusive collective bargaining process between the parties. This negates the principle of voluntarism and good faith behaviour in collective bargaining, contrary to Kenya’s industrial relations practice and constitutional provisions,” he said.
The union further noted that the SRC’s proposed a two percent annual general wage increase — a total of 8.25 percent for the four-year CBA — was far below the 26.1 percent increase required to compensate for inflation between July 2021 and June 2025.
Members of the University Academic Staff Union and the Kenya University Staff Union during a peaceful demonstration in Nairobi on September 24, 2025.
“If both the SRC advisory and IPUCCF’s counter-offers are sustained, our members will suffer deterioration in their real wages and standard of living by at least 17.85 percentage points,” Dr Wasonga stated.
Uasu also expressed outrage over disparities in remuneration for university lecturers and other public servants, pointing out that teachers under the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) were awarded salary increments ranging from 12 to 29.5 percent for the same period.
“It is not clear what parameters informed SRC and IPUCCF to propose a dismal two percent for lecturers,” said Dr Wasonga. “This huge disparity undermines the principles of comparability, equality, equity, and fair treatment.”
The union criticised the proposed four percent automatic annual increment by the SRC as “fiscally inadequate,” saying it was below the country’s inflation rate of five percent and lower than the increments enjoyed by civil servants and teachers.
“The four percent annual increment sanctioned by SRC would grossly fail to cushion academic staff against inflationary pressures, deepening the deterioration in their standards of living,” UASU said in the appeal.
Officials of University Academic Staff Union and the Kenya University Staff Union protest in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County on September 29, 2025.
On allowances, the union decried what it called “historical neglect and current inadequacy,” revealing that house allowances for lecturers had not been reviewed in 17 years and that the SRC’s proposal offered no changes.
“Lecturers are forced into housing that neither matches their status nor incentivises productivity. This is both discriminatory and demotivating,” said Dr Wasonga.
The union said medical cover and other allowances for lecturers were inferior to those provided to equivalent staff in other public service sectors, and called for urgent harmonisation.
Negotiations for a new CBA are at the centre of the current standoff that has paralysed learning in several public universities, with thousands of students left stranded. Uasu has vowed not to call off the strike until a “meaningful and fair” offer is tabled.
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