The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), weekend, insisted that nothing, but for last-minute Federal Government intervention, will stop it from embarking on a two-week warning strike in federal universities, polytechnics and colleges of education on resumption of academic activities.
The strike, according to the union, was as a result of the shortfall in payment of its members’ salaries. Mr. Peters Adeyemi, general secretary of NASU, said the non-teaching staff union was protesting the cut in its members’ salaries since February 2020 through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Adeyemi said the association has filed the Trade Dispute Act CAP 432, Trade Disputes (Essential Services) Act, CAP 433 of the laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, and Trade disputes (Amendment) Decree No. 47 of 1992, otherwise called Form TD/3.
Adeyemi told Daily Sun that the union filed official complaints against the Accountant-General of the Federation.
In its form TD/3, titled “notification of trade dispute, inter and intra-union disputes by employers/workers organization, etc,” NASU raised issues in dispute to include non-payment of salaries to some staff, short payment salaries to some staff, failure to pay approved allowances as contained in the FGN/NASU 2009 agreement, non-deduction of check-off dues, cooperative and other deductions of its members in the federal universities and inter-university centres, federal polytechnics and federal colleges of Education.
“We have also stated in the petition that various steps aimed at resolving the crisis have failed,” he said.
He noted the steps so far taken to resolve the issue to include meeting of NASU leadership with the director of the IPPIS on January 21, 2020.
The general-secretary said another meeting of NASU with the same director was held on February 4, 2020, which did not yield the desired result. Adeyemi also stated that a letter had been issued to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, declaring a trade dispute over IPPIS officials refusal to effect appropriate corrections of all the anomalies.
Adeyemi said, in spite of the assurances given by the minister, the issues has continued to linger.
He explained that NASU members have continued to observe the anomalies in their salaries paid in February, March and April.
He, therefore, said that NASU’s complaints as contained in its letter dated April 7, 2020, fell on deaf ears, as none was addressed in the March salaries.
He said, “It is unfortunate that IPPIS has only betrayed the leadership of NASU by deceiving us into accepting that the IPPIS platform will take on board all the peculiarities affecting our members and that there will be no problem if we key into the platform.
“Now we know better. IPPIS promises of doing a three-month experiment has become very disastrously and we are unable to allow this defective and deficient process to continue.”
Adeyemi noted that NASU has issued a notice of strike, having fulfilled all the statutory requirements. He said the association has also placed all its members in the federal universities and intra-university centres, federal polytechnics and federal colleges of education on a 14-day warning strike notice.