Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU)and Non-Academic Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (NASU) have protested across public universities in the country over the non-payment of their withheld 4(four) months salaries by the Federal Government admidst other demands of the two unions
Branch Chairman of SSANU at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta (FUNAAB) in the Ogun State capital, Comrade Rotimi Fasunwon and his counter-part in NASU, Comrade Samson-Idowu Edivri on Tuesday led members on the peaceful protest on the Alabata main campus of the institution, where they alerted Nigerians on the imminent strike, if government failed to act now on their demands
Both unions described the continuous silence of government, as an act of insensitivity to their plights including non-payment of their Earned Allowances and 23.5 percent salary increment for non-academic staff and 35 percent for professors as agreed in the Memoranda of Actions (MOA) of 2009
Fasunwon speaking with newsmen on the sidelines of the protest held simultaneously by branches of the unions in public universities as directed by the Joint Action Committee of National bodies of both unions, decried a situation where their counter-part in the academic were paid withheld four months since January, 2024, leaving out the non-academic staff which according to them , amount to injustice within the university system
The SSANU explained that the protest which saw members displaying placards with various bold inscriptions, was aimed at sensitizing general public including parents and students to join them in solidarity and ensure government does the needful, by paying the withheld salaries and N50 billion Earned Allowances already captured in the 2023 budget of the Federal Government, to prevent the imminent indefinite strike
Also speaking Branch Chairman of NASU, accused government of using the divide and rules tactics in the public university system by paying academic part of their withheld salaries and neglecting non-academic, saying both unions will resist all forms of tactics and ready to fight for the injustice within the university system
He warned that if government failed to respond to the demands, the leadership of both unions would embark on National Protest on next week Thursday, 18th of July, 2024 and move to the National Assembly complex in Abuja before holding the meeting of Joint Action Committee of the two unions,where the date for commencement of nation-wide will be decided
The unions added that several steps taken including one week warning strike held in March, 2024 and letter written to the Federal Ministry of Education and that of Labour and Employment Generation had failed to achieve the desired result
Leadership of the union during the demonstration, picketed offices within the campus to mobilize members for the industrial action
It will be recalled that the unions in 2022 joined their academic staff counter part in protest for better working condition within the public university system but the immediate past administration of President Mohammadu Buhari applied the no work no pay rule, by withholding their salaries for the period of the strike action
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