We Expect Ngige To Facilitate Payment of Our Salaries For Period Strike Lasted — NASU

 

The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has called on the federal government to pay salary arrears for the four months their industrial action lasted.

 

According to NASU, all parties within the University system have suspended their industrial actions, it behoves on government to start reviewing those hard stances it took while the tertiary institutions were under lock and key.

 

General Secretary of NASU, Prince Peters Adeyemi made these remarks, on Wednesday, while fielding questions from reporters on the sidelines of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the union in Abuja.

 

He said a moratorium given to the Federal Government which elapses by November 2022, should serve as a veritable opportunity for the government to sit down and begin to address the existing demands by the Unions, one of which is the salary arrears.

 

Adeyemi pointed out that under no circumstance would the government sweep the issue under the carpet, especially, when the government obliged the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) similar gesture after they suspended their two months strike.

 

Asked if the Federal Government is still disposed to offsetting the salary arrears, going by its initial stance of ‘no work, no pay’, Adeyemi said, “That is the next issue, you see they say that if there is a fire in the house, you, first of all, have to make sure that you are safe to put out the fire, if you get consumed in the fire, you can’t save anybody.

 

Dr Hassan Makolo, National President of NASU while corroborating Adeyemi’s position, said members of trade unions don’t just embark on strike to play to the gallery, contrary to the erroneous belief in the public.

 

According to him, a decision to call a strike does not come easy for Unionists, because it is done at great cost to their members and the unions.

 

He said, “Those who think it is easy to go on a strike should think of staying for four, five or more months without a salary or an income and think of what that does to the household of a breadwinner who is taking part in a strike without a salary, in terms of feeding, medicals, transportation, children school fees, aged parents and other relations to cater for as well as the landlord.

 

He stated further that the era of strikes can only be mitigated effectively if collective bargaining in the educational and allied institutions sectors are institutionalised.

 

Dr Hassan said this is one of the demands they put before the Federal Government, which members of the Federal Government Renegotiating Team rejected.

 

He explained that government teams should always come to the collective bargaining table with fidelity, including implementing agreements it freely entered into with NASU.

 

His words, “Over two months after the Agreement signed by the Federal Government with the JointAction Committee (JAC) of NASU and SSANU, which resulted in the suspension of the four months old strike, we have observed that the processes expected to be put in place for the actualisation of the content of the Agreement are yet to be put in place.