From Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
The Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Federal University of Otuoke chapter have joined their counterparts across the country to protest the sharing formula of Earned Allowance (EA) and non-payment of minimum wage.
Members of the two unions on Friday at the university campus armed with placards with inscriptions such as ‘We reject EA sharing formula’, ‘ FG pay us our share of earned allowance’, ‘ FG pay us our Minimum Wage Arrears’ demanded an end to unfair treatment by the Federal Government.
Chairman SSANU and Chairman of Joint Action Committee (JAC), Mr Kalizibe Joseph, in an interview said the protest was in line with a directive by the national body of the unions to kick against the EA sharing formula and non-payment of minimum wage.
According to him, the unions were no longer comfortable with the sharing formula and want it to be addressed.
“Over the years, we have been having issues over the payment of allowances known as earned allowances. Each time the allowance comes, there is a divide-and-rule system used by the Federal Government in the sharing formula. This does not go down well with us the non-teaching staff. The sharing formula over the years has been unfair to us. We have been short-changed. We are troubled over this and we have decided to embark on the protest.