Lecturers in Kenya’s public universities are set to strike on October 2 after the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) issued a seven-day notice over the delayed implementation of the 2025-2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said on Thursday that the planned nationwide strike followed the failure by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury to honour a Return-to-Work Formula signed in November 2025.
The union also accused the government of failing to present a financial counter-proposal for the CBA, despite negotiations having been ongoing since last year.
“This painful decision follows the persistent failure by the councils of universities, the Ministry of Education, and the National Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on 5th November 2025,” UASU said.
The union said the dispute had dragged on while other public sector employees had already completed negotiations for their 2025-2029 CBAs.
UASU said the latest disagreement followed a meeting held with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on September 21.
According to the union, SRC informed university-sector unions that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had given a written commitment confirming that funding for CBAs in public universities would come through the National Exchequer.
“SRC said that it could not therefore issue the constitutional advice required to facilitate financial counter-proposals to the Unions,” the union stated.
UASU said the position communicated by SRC had raised concerns over the negotiations that have been taking place at Machakos University since last year.
The union had earlier warned that university lecturers would consider industrial action if the government did not resolve the outstanding issues surrounding the 2025-2029 CBA.
In a statement issued on August 14, UASU said the agreement was expected to be signed in November 2025 but had remained unresolved.
The union has now given the government seven days to address the outstanding matters, failing which lecturers will down their tools from October 2.
The planned industrial action would affect teaching and other academic activities in public universities if the parties fail to reach an agreement before the deadline.
UASU has maintained that the implementation of the 2025-2029 CBA, together with the fulfilment of the Return-to-Work Formula, remains at the centre of efforts to resolve the dispute.