Gabriel Dike and Uche Henry
Chairman of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of non-academic staff unions in the universities, Mr. Samson Ugwoke have insisted that members of the three staff unions will go ahead with the proposed nationwide strike .
Ugwoke told Daily Sun, yesterday, that members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association Academic Technologists (NAAT) have been mobilised to down tool from today.
The three staff unions last week disclosed that its members will begin a national warning strike from August 19 to 23 following inability of the Federal Government to meet their demands.
One of the major issues is Earned Allowances. The unions said out of the N23 billion released by the government to the four staff unions, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) got about 80 percentleaving the non-academic unions to share only 20per cent.
“There is no going back. Our members have been mobilised for the nationwide warning strike. The Federal Government has not met our demands. We met two weeks ago with government officials, as at today, we have not had any positive response from the government. Two weeks after our meeting, the Federal Government has not fulfilled any promises made. The government has not done anything to make us change our mind about the strike’,’ Ugwoke stated.
Members of the three staff union on Monday, July 15 embarked on a three-day protest to drive home their demands, which also include government’s refusal to recall sacked workers of staff schools and the alleged discriminatory attitude against non-teaching staff.
However, the industrial action embarked upon by members of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Unwana chapter, may be call-off soon following the intervention of the governing council of Akanu Ibiam Federal Polytechnic Unwana (AIFPU), though management of the institution is yet to meet the demands.
The union had embarked on an indefinite strike on Thursday, August 1, over non-payment of 27 months Peculiar Academic Allowance (PAA) arrears owed its members by management of AIFPU, the condition of service, poor office accommodation, among other issues.
The Publicity Secretary, Ukegbu Chibuzo, in a statement, expressed hope that the council would look into the sources of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) with the aim of paying the backlog of allowances owed staff and improving their working conditions.