Non-teaching staff in universities will commence a nationwide strike from February 15, 2021 over the Federal Government’s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System(IPPIS), sharing formula of the N40 billion earned academic allowances and non-payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.
The workers, under the Joint Action Committee, which is made up of Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) had last week embarked on a three- day protest over government’s failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), signed with the unions on 20th October, 2020.
The committee said other contentious issues that informed the decision to embark on a nationwide industrial action include inconsistencies in IPPIS payment and the delay in the renegotiation of the FGN/ ASUU/SSANU 2009 Agreement.
Others are the non-payment of retirement benefits to former members, non-constitution of visitation panels to universities, poor funding of universities, teaching staff usurping the headship of non-teaching units, among others.
Addressing newsmen on Friday in Abuja, the JAC of SSANU and NASU led by the National President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim and General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, said out of the seven issues under contention, only one was partially resolved.
JAC said: “Out of the seven issues, only one has been partially resolved while the other six issues have not been attended to by government, three months after the Memorandum of Understanding was signed.”
JAC noted that after the congresses held by its branches on Tuesday this week, 90 per cent of NASU members were in support of a strike and 10 percent stood against it. While 83 per cent of SSANU members were in support of embarking on strike, 11 per cent were against the strike and 6 percent were indifferent.
“It is in line with the resolution of our members nationwide that the leadership of the joint action committee of NASU and SSANU hereby resolve as follows;
“That members of NASU and SSANU shall embark on an indefinite, comprehensive and total strike with effect from midnight of Friday, 5th February 2021.
“That two weeks’ notice effective from today, Friday 22nd January 2021, is hereby given to government and relevant stakeholders of this development,” the JAC president said.
The Nation