The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union have declared a 7-day warning strike to demand the payment of four months of withheld salaries of their members, after the 2022 nationwide strike.
The decision was part of the resolution of the joint action committee of the two unions, after a meeting held in Akure at the weekend.
According to the SSANU president, Mohammed Ibrahim, who read the communiqué of the meeting to journalists in Abuja on Monday, the decision to embark on the warning strike was taken as a last resort since several protest letters and other communications with the Federal Government did not result in the payment of the withheld salaries.
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“If nothing is done by the Federal Government to positively address this situation and respond to our previous letters to them, the members of the two unions may be forced to meet soon to take all lawful and stringent decisions on the matter”.
The fresh development comes on the heels of the unions accusing FG of treating their members with “disdain”.
President Bola Tinubu had directed the payment of withheld salaries for university workers owing to their strike of 2022.
However, SSANU, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) said they were yet to get salaries for the said period and had issued a one-week ultimatum about two weeks ago.
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Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the SSANU chief alleged abandonment of the unions by the FG.
“We have to speak like this because we have been clearly shown that we do not matter in the system. But we all know that there is no university that can function without the non-teaching staff because we are majorly populated by professionals. We own the engine of the administration of every university. They are treating this segment of staff with some disdain. It does not speak well of the system,” he said.
SSANU and NASU said they have done everything within their powers to prevail on their members to maintain industrial peace and tranquillity.
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“While we appreciate the Federal Government for paying our academic counterpart, we also deem it necessary that our members are also paid,” the statement said, adding that the unions could no longer guarantee industrial harmony on the campuses should the government fail to hisse them.