Avert looming strike

The University Academic Staff Union (UASU) and the Kenyatta University Staff Union (KUSU) have issued a three-day strike notice following failure by the Inter-Public Universities Council Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) to honour a scheduled meeting on Tuesday.

The union's attempts to get their salaries harmonised even as they push for better pay have hit a brick wall because the Government and the university management appear reluctant to disclose the amount of revenue realised through the parallel degree programmes. It would seem the unions are aggrieved that the difference in pay between vice-chancellors and the least paid officers is way beyond the recommended limits.

There is need for the unions and IPUCCF to sit down to round-table discussions with a view to sorting out whatever misunderstandings they have. Strikes only hurt the economy even as they disrupt social order. Students have every right to be in lecture halls after paying dearly for their instruction.

A review of the Comprehensive Bargaining Agreement signed in 2013 is in order considering that the agitation for a new one started in January 2015. IPUCCF has had time to come up with an agreeable proposal to UASU and the other unions to avert a strike.