The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union have called a seven-day warning strike to demand the payment of four months’ delayed salary for its members following the 2022 countrywide strike.
The decision was part of a resolution passed by the two unions’ joint action committee during a meeting held over the weekend in Akure.
President of SSANU, Mohammed Ibrahim, who read the meeting’s Communiqué to journalists in Abuja on Monday, stated that the decision to go on strike was made as a last resort after several protest letters and other communications with the Federal Government did not result in the payment of the withheld salaries.
The statement went on to say: “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 latest development comes after unions accused FG of treating their members with “disdain”.
President Bola Tinubu directed the payment of withholding salary for university employees due to their 2022 strike.
However, SSANU, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) said they had yet to receive salaries for the specified period and had issued a one-week ultimatum around two weeks ago.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim said that the FG had abandoned the unions.
“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 good of the system,” he said during the show.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of SSANU and NASU stated that it has done everything in its ability to persuade its members to maintain industrial peace and tranquilly.
“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 pay them.
