UASU Sets October 2 Strike Date as CBA Funding Dispute Deepens

Lecturers in Kenya’s public universities could walk out on October 2 after the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) issued a seven-day strike notice, escalating a dispute that has dragged on for nearly a year.

UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga announced the notice on Thursday, September 24, saying the union would withdraw its labour if the Government does not negotiate, sign and begin implementing the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) within the seven-day window.

The proposed strike is set to begin at midnight on Friday, October 2.

The date corrects earlier reports that had placed the strike on September 30.

At the centre of the dispute is not only the stalled pay agreement, but also the question of how lecturers’ salaries and benefits will be funded.

UASU says the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury have not given a written commitment that money for the CBA will come through the National Exchequer.

The union says this became clear during a meeting with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on September 21.

According to UASU, the commission told university-sector unions that it had not received a written funding commitment from the Ministry or Treasury. The union says this meant SRC could not provide the constitutional advice needed to move the financial negotiations forward.

For lecturers, that has turned the CBA dispute into a wider argument over the future financing of public universities.

Wasonga has rejected any suggestion that lecturers’ salaries should depend on student fees.

“Public officers can either be paid from the Consolidated Fund or money appropriated by Parliament. We are not going to allow our salaries to be paid from student fees,” he said on Thursday.

CBA talks stalled

The 2025–2029 CBA was expected to be concluded after UASU and the Inter-Public Universities Councils Consultative Forum (IPUCCF) agreed in November 2025 to work towards resolving the dispute.

UASU now says that commitment has not been honoured.

The union accuses university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury of failing to implement the Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.

It also says the Government and IPUCCF have yet to table a financial counter-proposal, despite negotiations having continued for months.

The latest action follows an earlier one-month deadline issued by UASU on September 18.

At the time, Wasonga gave the Government and IPUCCF until October 18 to table a substantive counter-proposal, negotiate, sign, register and implement the CBA.

The union has now moved to industrial action sooner.

Previous arrears partly addressed

The dispute comes against the backdrop of earlier battles over unpaid university staff benefits.

In August, Education Cabinet Secretary Julius Ogamba said the Government had released KSh6.8 billion to public universities to help clear arrears linked to previous CBAs.

Those payments relate to earlier agreements and do not resolve the separate negotiations over the 2025–2029 CBA.

UASU has continued to argue that the current agreement must also address staffing shortages, workload and other employment conditions.

The union has previously raised concern about the growing use of part-time lecturers as universities struggle to maintain adequate staffing levels.

Data cited by the Daily Nation from the Commission for University Education showed that adjunct academic staff increased from 758 in 2024 to 1,611 in 2025.

That adds another layer to the dispute as universities face pressure to accommodate growing student numbers while dealing with financial constraints.

What happens next?

The immediate focus is now on whether the Government and the university councils can reach an agreement before October 2.

A settlement would avert disruption to lectures, examinations, research and student supervision across public universities.

But if no agreement is reached, the strike could reopen wider questions about how Kenya finances its public universities and whether the burden of funding academic staff can be separated from the fees and other income generated by institutions.

For now, UASU says its position is clear: it wants the 2025–2029 CBA negotiated, signed and implemented, with funding secured through the national budget.

The Government and university councils have yet to publicly announce a settlement that would avert the proposed strike.

About the Author

Maureen Onyango is a journalist passionate about storytelling, life coaching and spiritual lessons. She studied at the Kenya Institute of Management and enjoys telling stories that inform, inspire and empower communities.