Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) have commenced an indefinite nationwide strike in public universities to demand the immediate release of their four months’ withheld salaries since 2022.
A press statement by the National President of SSANU, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, and the General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, said the decision follows the expiration of the ultimatum given to the Federal Government to settle withheld salaries, which ended on Sunday midnight.
The unions demand payment of four-month withheld salaries, improved remuneration, earned allowances, and implementation of the 2009 agreements with the government.
They directed their members in all public universities and inter-university centres nationwide to hold a joint congress today, October 28, 2024, and then proceed with an indefinite strike.
Persecondnews recalls that the unions, on September 17, 2023, handed the Federal Government a three-week ultimatum to pay the withheld salaries of their members or risk an industrial action.
Prior to the indefinite strike, SSANU and NASU had held several protests and warning strikes over the withheld salaries, which resulted in paralyzed university operations, locked hostels and gates, and disrupted electricity supply.
They criticized the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting the non-academic unions.
All the unions had previously embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to press home some of their demands, including a better welfare package.
The administration of then-President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently invoked a “No Work, No Pay” policy against the unions, but President Bola Tinubu last October approved the release of withheld salaries to ASUU members.
SSANU and NASU accused the Federal Government of unfair treatment and discrimination by failing to pay them the full eight months’ salaries like their academic counterparts.
The then Education Minister, Prof. Tahir Mamman, had in April blamed a “communication problem” for the non-payment of the full amount to SSANU and NASU members, while he insisted that they were not discriminated against.
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