Universities' non-teaching staff strike enters one week

By Innocent Anguyo

The ongoing strike by the non-academic staff of public universities is showing no sign of coming to an end, with both Government and their employees sticking to their initial stands.
           
Non-academic staff in public universities want their salaries matched with that of academic staff, but Government insists that it does not have the money to make pay rise this financial year.
           
The persistence of both parties to shun compromise has seen the strike enter a seventh day.
           
Public universities’ non-teaching staff in Makerere, MUBS, Gulu, Muni, Mbarara, Kyambogo and Busitema had earlier decided to lay down their tools effective Monday August 03, unless Government raised their pay to match that of academics.
        
Education Minister Jessica Alupo says the salaries for the non-academic staff will be raised next financial year.
           
“The non-academic staff should not lay down their tools but rather give government the opportunity to raise their salaries in the next financial year. Our stand remains that universities should open as scheduled,” said Alupo.
           
Sezi Mbaguta, the state minister for public service says she had allocated sh50b to raise the salaries of academics this financial year and would make a similar increment for non-academic staff in the next financial year.
           
Jackson Betihamah, the leader of the public universities’ non-teaching staff executive forum (PUNTSEF) told New Vision that they were frustrated by the Government stand, saying they continue to lay down their tools until they get a salary enhancement.

The industrial action of the non-academic staff is in response to Government’s decision to enhance salaries for only the academic staff in the 2015/16 financial year.

The salary enhancement structure sent to public universities by the finance ministry on March 25 only catered for academics.

Initial attempts of the non-teaching staff to get government to equally raise their pay proved futile. For instance, PUNTSEF wrote to Prime Minister Dr. Ruhakana Rugunda on April 11 and Speaker Rebecca Kadaga on April 19 over the same matter, to no avail.

Non-academic staff seek sh37b to equally raise their salaries in tandem with that of their teaching colleagues. There are about 4,000 non-academic staff in public universities.

Financing the new wage structure for the 2,713 academics in public universities will cost government about sh50b this year.

Museveni had pledged to allocate sh180b for increasing wages of lecturers with gross salary of a professor then expected to rise to sh15m from the current sh4.0m