The Moi University striking lecturers have turned down an offer by the university’s council, terming it too little, vowing to continue with the industrial action.
Addressing the press on Monday, the Universities’ Academic Staff Union (UASU) Eldoret branch secretary-general, Busolo Wekesa, said they have been negotiating with the employer since Thursday last week, but their members have rejected the offer until all of their demands are met.
“We have received the offers and are deliberating with the employer, but so far the staff have said that it is too little and they will not accept it unless they are offered something better,” Dr Wekesa said.
He noted that members were physically going through the offers on Monday before making further deliberations on the way forward.
UASU Moi University branch chairman Richard Kero said while they have been working tirelessly, sacrificing their time to recover the syllabus after the past strike, and the university has failed them.
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“Some of our members are suffering due to the burden of loans that have seen them placed on the Credit Reference Bureau (CRB) listing, as many go home without a pension,” Kero said.
UASU members at Moi University went on strike on August 20 and have said they won’t resume their duties until a return-to-work formula signed with the university council on November 30, 2024, is implemented.
The union demands that salaries for June and July 2025 should be paid as per the negotiated 2021-2025 Collective Bargaining Agreement rates.
Additionally, it wants the clauses on review and promotion of staff and retirement age in the negotiated 2021-2025 National Collective Bargaining Agreement to be fully honored.
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This comes amid the overlap management and financial crisis which has seen the government dissolve the old council and install new under the steering of the acting Vice Chancellor Prof. Kiplagat Kotut.
The new council in bid to rescue the university from collapsing released a redundancy letter to over 900 employees though later quashed by the court.
The strike comes at the time when the university admitted its first year students who are now staring at empty lecture halls and long academic year.
By Juma Ndigo
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