SSANU, NASU hold referendum on indefinite nationwide strike

By Gabriel Dike, Lagos

The various branches of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) in universities and inter-university centres have been directed to conduct a referendum on whether to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike.

The national leadership of the two unions under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee (JAC) gave the directive to branch chairmen in a circular dated January 14 and signed by NASU President Dr Makolo Hassan and SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim.

Members of the non-teaching staff in the universities last week embarked on a three-day warning nationwide strike protest against the non-implementation of their demands by the Federal Government.

The circular said the JAC met on January 14 to appraise the three-day nationwide protest and commended the courage and commitment of members in prosecuting the protest across the branches.

The JAC further observed the need for members to take ownership of decisions in respect of the way forward after the nationwide protest that crippled administrative activities on campuses.

‘To this end, branch chairmen of NASU and SSANU are hereby directed to convene joint congresses simultaneously on Tuesday 19th January 2021 to take a resolution on the possible commencement of an indefinite and total national strike in respect of on non-implementation of the issues contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed and agreed with the unions by the Federal Government on 20th October 2020,’ the statement reads.

‘The resolution of these congresses are to be forwarded to the national secretariat of the respective unions via email, while a meeting of the leadership of the national JAC shall be convened on Thursday, 28th January 2021 to collate and make a decision on the branch resolutions which shall be communicated to the branches subsequently.’

Among the demands include irregularities in the implementation of the Integrated Payroll Personnel Information Systems (IPPIS); non-payment of Earned Allowances (EA); non-payment of arrears of minimum wage; delay in the renegotiation of FGN/NASU and SSANU 2009 agreements.

Others are non-payment of retirement benefits of retired members; teaching staff usurping headships of non-teaching units in clear violation of conditions of service and established procedures; neglect and poor funding of state universities and poor funding of state universities.