UASU Issues Seven-Day Strike Notice as Lecturers Demand Implementation of 2025–2029 CBA

Lecturers in public universities are set to down their tools from September 30 after the Universities Academic Staff Union (UASU) issued a seven-day nationwide strike notice over the delayed implementation of the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

UASU Secretary-General Constantine Wasonga said on Thursday, September 24, that the strike would begin at midnight on September 30, citing the failure by university councils, the Ministry of Education and the National Treasury to honour the Return-to-Work Formula signed on November 5, 2025.

The union also accused the government of failing to provide a financial counter-proposal for the 2025–2029 CBA despite negotiations having continued since last year.

The dispute has drawn attention across Kenya’s university sector, including the Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), whose Secretary General, Dr. Charles Mukhwaya, is among the key voices representing the interests of university employees.

UASU said other public-service sector employees had concluded their 2025–2029 CBAs, and got salary increases as from 1st July, 2025, while the agreement covering employees of public universities remained unresolved.

The Union said the latest development followed a meeting with the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) on September 21, 2026.

According to UASU, SRC informed university-sector unions that neither the Ministry of Education nor the National Treasury had provided a written commitment that funding for public universities’ CBAs would be provided through the National Exchequer.

The union said SRC consequently could not issue the constitutional advice required to facilitate financial counter-proposals to the unions.

UASU argued that the disclosure raised questions about negotiations that have been ongoing at Machakos University since last year.

The planned industrial action comes just over a month after UASU warned that lecturers could strike if the government failed to negotiate, conclude, register and implement the agreement covering the 2025–2029 period.

In a statement issued on August 14, the union said the CBA had been expected to be signed in November 2025 but remained pending.

The emerging dispute places renewed focus on the welfare of university teaching and administrative staff, the financing of public universities and the need for the parties involved to resolve outstanding issues surrounding the 2025–2029 CBA.