UNIVERSITY UNIONS SET TO BEGIN STRIKE TOMORROW
The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions are set to commence strike from tomorrow (Friday).
This was disclosed in a statement released by the unions on Thursday, 4th February 2021.
The statement read in part: “In view of the outcome of the meeting, the leadership of JAC of NASU and SSANU at the branches are hereby directed to commence joint general meetings on Friday to give reports on the outcome of the conciliation meeting and pass resolutions on the way forward.
“In the meantime, the nationwide strike takes effect from 12 midnight, Friday, February 5, 2021, pending any contrary resolution by the branches.”
The strike notice followed a meeting held on Tuesday between Federal Government and non-teaching staff in the universities under the umbrella of Joint Action Committee(JAC)which ended without resolution on burning issues.
Recall that JAC comprising the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, SSANU had threatened to shut down the universities starting from February 5 if the government failed to address some of the concerns they raised.
Among their concerns include the issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which the unions complained that they were having problems with since they migrated into the platform, the non-payment of arrears of minimum wage since April last year, the disparity in the sharing of the N40 billion Earned Allowances in which the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU was allocated 75 per cent of the total sum leaving 25 per cent for three unions and the alleged usurpation of the functions of the non-teaching staff by the ASUU members.
In a bid to avoid any strike action, Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, who is the conciliator between the government and the unions convened a meeting in his office in Abuja.
However, the meeting ended without any resolution of the contentious issues.
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