The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union have jointly declared a 7-day warning strike to demand the payment of four months of withheld salaries of their members following the 2022 nationwide strike, ChannelsTV report.
The decision was reached after a meeting held in Akure over the weekend by the joint action committee of the two unions.
Mohammed Ibrahim, the president of SSANU, announced the decision during a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, stating that the strike action was a last resort after numerous protest letters and communications with the Federal Government yielded no results regarding the withheld salaries.
“If nothing is done by the Federal Government to positively address this situation and respond to our previous letters to them, the members of the two unions may be forced to meet soon to take all lawful and stringent decisions on the matter,” Ibrahim said.
The unions have accused the Federal Government of treating their members with “disdain” and alleged abandonment by the government despite assurances from President Bola Tinubu regarding the payment of withheld salaries for university workers following the 2022 strike.
SSANU, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) claimed that they were yet to receive salaries for the said period and had issued a one-week ultimatum about two weeks ago.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunday Politics, the SSANU chief expressed frustration over what he described as the neglect of the non-teaching staff by the government.
“We have to speak like this because we have been clearly shown that we do not matter in the system. But we all know that there is no university that can function without the non-teaching staff because we are majorly populated by professionals. We own the engine of the administration of every university. They are treating this segment of staff with some disdain. It does not speak good of the system,” he stated.
SSANU and NASU emphasized that they have exhausted all avenues to maintain industrial peace and tranquility. Still, the failure of the government to pay their members has left them with no choice but to declare the warning strike.
“While we appreciate the Federal Government for paying our academic counterparts, we also deem it necessary that our members are also paid,” the unions stated, adding that they could no longer guarantee industrial harmony on the campuses should the government fail to address their demands.