Why civil servants have rejected SRC's pay deal

Civil servants have rejected the latest salary structure issued by the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC), accusing the government of short-circuiting ongoing negotiations and denying them an opportunity to secure better salaries and allowances.

The union representing civil servants through its Secretary General Lawrence Ochieng said the salary review was pushed through before negotiations for the 2025–2029 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) were concluded, setting the stage for a fresh legal battle between public sector workers and the government.

The union has accused the Principal Secretary in the State Department for Public Service of acting unilaterally and in bad faith by forwarding a salary structure to the SRC for approval while negotiations were still ongoing.

“We have not signed any CBA to make any approval. The negotiations are still ongoing,” the union SG said, insisting that no salary structure should have been approved before the collective bargaining process was completed.

It has also accused the SRC of overstepping its mandate by issuing a circular dated July 17, 2026, despite the absence of a signed agreement between the government and the union.

According to the union, it began pushing for formal negotiations months ago after writing to the Principal Secretary on April 20, 2026, requesting the convening of a Collective Negotiating Council meeting to commence talks for the 2025–2029 CBA cycle.

Ochieng said that negotiations remained active when they submitted counterproposals on salaries and allowances in a letter dated July 14, 2026.  However, they had accepted a lump-sum monetary offer proposed to run until 2028 but made a counterproposal seeking to bring forward the 2027/2028 salary increments to July 2026.

The proposal was intended to begin the harmonisation of salaries across the public service and provide greater relief to workers, particularly those at the lowest end of the pay scale.

Under the counterproposal, the minimum basic salary would rise from Sh18,700 to Sh25,600, representing an increase of at least Sh6,900 for the lowest-earning cadre.

At the higher end, the union proposed that the minimum basic salary for CSG 17 and SCG 4 would rise from Sh185,690 to Sh215,802, effective July 1, 2026.

The union also proposed higher house and commuter allowances, arguing that current rates do not adequately reflect the rising cost of living faced by public servants.

Under its proposal, the minimum house allowance for CSG 17 would rise from Sh2,700 to Sh6,075, while the house allowance for CSG 4 would increase to Sh80,000.

The minimum commuter allowance would also rise from Sh3,000 to Sh4,800.

The union says these proposals formed part of negotiations that had not been concluded when the SRC issued its circular.

It has consequently dismissed the salary adjustments announced by the commission as inadequate, arguing that they do not amount to the meaningful pay increases public servants had anticipated.

“What has been published by SRC is mere annual incremental and not the real salary increment that public servants expected,” the union said.

The union is now demanding that the government halt implementation of the SRC circular until negotiations are concluded and a CBA signed.

It has given notice that it will pursue both administrative and legal avenues to stop implementation of the new salary structure.

“We shall demand that the government, through the State Department for Public Service, stop the implementation of the SRC circular dated July 17, 2026, until we finalise our negotiations and sign our CBA,” said the union.

It further said it would move to court to seek orders stopping implementation of the circular.

“We shall also simultaneously be going to court to stop the implementation of the circular,” it said.

The union has warned that failure to resolve the dispute through negotiations or the courts could trigger further action, although it insists that any measures taken will remain within the law.

“Should the above two measures fail, we shall use all the means necessary within the law to ensure the welfare of civil servants and the legitimate expectations on salary increments are complied with,” the union said.

The standoff has renewed scrutiny of the government’s salary review process, with the union maintaining that the SRC circular cannot replace collective bargaining.

At the heart of the dispute is whether a salary structure affecting civil servants can be implemented before negotiations between the government and the union are completed.

The union insists that the process must be guided by good faith, consultation and collective bargaining, arguing that the welfare of thousands of civil servants cannot be determined through what it describes as a unilateral process.

The dispute could further complicate efforts to conclude the 2025–2029 CBA, with civil servants insisting that the final salary structure must reflect a negotiated agreement rather than what they describe as an imposed pay package.