UASU Strike Launches strike as Lecturers Demand 2025–2029 CBA

Story by Monyonge O’kebati
The Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) has vowed to sustain its strike until the government concludes and signs the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), accusing authorities of repeatedly delaying the negotiations.
Speaking during the strike, UASU shop steward Alan Ebui said academic staff had exhausted all avenues for resolving the dispute and were now demanding a firm commitment from the government.

Ebui rejected assertions that the current dispute was linked to the 2017 CBA, saying the union was dealing with a new agreement covering the 2025–2029 period.
He said academic staff had participated in negotiations but had yet to secure an agreement, despite what he described as prolonged engagement with the government.
“This is a 2025 matter, and we have been taken round in circles. We have been pushed to the limit,” Ebui said.
The union has also raised concerns over the proposed financing of salaries in public universities, particularly suggestions that university staff could eventually be paid through student fees and loans.
UASU rejected the idea, maintaining that public universities should continue to receive government funding and that the salaries of academic staff should not be dependent on students’ ability to pay.
The union called on the government and the National Treasury to commit to financing university staff through the National Exchequer.
“We are defending the public character of public universities,” Ebui said, arguing that universities established as public institutions should not be treated as market-driven entities.
UASU also questioned the government’s handling of the negotiations, with Ebui expressing concern over the level of officials involved in attempts to resolve the dispute.
He further alleged that an inter-ministerial committee established through the Office of the President had not moved quickly enough to resolve the impasse.
The union has maintained that academic staff will remain on strike until a deal on the 2025–2029 CBA is reached and formally signed.
“We are dealing with the government, so we are not going back to work until a deal is signed,” Ebui said.
The standoff threatens to prolong disruption in public universities as UASU presses the government to address both the outstanding CBA and what it considers the broader question of sustainable public financing for universities.
The union’s position is that resolving the current dispute requires a signed agreement rather than further consultations, with academic staff maintaining that they will only resume teaching once their demands are addressed.