By Roy Hezron
Public University lecturers will enjoy hefty perks from next year if the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) proposed by Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU) is implemented by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
The proposed increments will be done in four main phases, covering the period from 1st July, 2021 to 30th June, 2025.
The proposed CBA dated 28th October 2019 between Inter-Public Universities’ Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) and the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU) was agreed through a Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC).
The agreement will apply to academic members of staffs in Graduate/Research Assistant, Assistant Lecturer/Tutorial Fellow/Junior Research Fellow, Lecturer/Research Fellow, Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow, Associate Professor and Professor’s.
In the proposal, the highest paid Graduate Assistant/Research Assistant at C3 will earn Sh129,696 monthly up from the current Sh82,552 basic salary from July next year.
The lowest paid graduate at C3 will be earning Sh99,650 per month from the current Sh57,729.
The highest Assistant Lecturer/Tutorial Fellow/Junior Research Fellow at C5 will earn Sh157,095 per month in next financial year from the current pay of Ksh.139,915, with the lowest at Sh120,702 per month up from the current basic salary of Ksh.97,842 per month.
The union also propose that the highest paid Lecturer/Research Fellow at D2 as be paid a basic salary of Sh190, 282 per month from the current Sh160, 357 per month.
The lowest in the same scale will earn Sh146, 200 per month up from the current salary of Sh110, 591.
The union further propose that a Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow at D4 should get Sh230, 480 per month from the current Sh206, 563, while lowest in the same scale will earn Sh177, 086 from the current Ksh.144, 450.
Further, the highest paid Associate Professor at E1 as from next year 1st July should earn a basic salary of Sh279, 170 per month from the current Sh250, 669 per month if the proposed CBA is implemented.
The lowest in the same scale will earn Sh214, 496 per month from the current Sh180, 337 per month.
Professors at E3 are the biggest winners of the proposed CBA since if it will be implemented.
They will start earning a basic salary of Sh338, 146 per month as from 1st July next year from the current Ksh.283, 087, while the lowest in the same scale will be earning Sh259, 810 per month from the current Sh209, 694.
Housing allowance will also be revised with Professors’ getting the highest pay allowance of Sh116, 028 per month from the current Sh73, 715 per month.
They will be followed by the Associate Professors’ at Sh104,426 per month from the current Sh66,344 per, Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow Sh92,822 from Sh58,972 , Assistant Lecturer/Tutorial Fellow/Junior Research Fellow Sh81,220 from Sh51,601 and Graduate Assistant/Research Assistant Sh55,692 from Sh35,383.
The proposed CBA also allows members of the Union to retire at the age of seventy-five (75) years with a voluntary retirement age at 50 years and above.
All members of the teaching staff in the Public Universities and their constituent colleges will get a car loan.
The CBA also states that the employer shall establish and operate a comprehensive non-contributory in-patient and out-patient medical schemes to cover the employee, spouse and up to five (5) dependent children under the age of 25 years.
In addition, it requires the employer to bear the costs of transport and accommodation incurred by a union member and his/her dependents that have been referred for specialist treatment within the country but outside the place of work and/or normal residence.
Incase the Union staff member or any of his/her dependents require to seek treatment abroad, such costs of travel, accommodation and treatment shall be borne by the employer.
Professors’ and Associate Professors’ will both enjoy Sh60, 000 annually as book allowance Sh20, 000 Professorial Allowance for Professors, while Associate Professors will get Sh45,000 and Sh10,000 annually as both book and Professorial Allowance respectively.
The Co-Chairmen of the Joint Negotiation Committee (JNC), the Secretary General of UASU, three people nominated by IPUCCF, and three other people nominated by UASU shall jointly comprise the National Implementation Committee and shall monitor and evaluate the implementation and review of the agreement.
