The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, (SSANU), has called on the Federal Government to withdraw the memo directing that workers of the Staff schools should not be captured in the 2022 budget.
The President of SSANU, Mr. Mohammed Haruna, while speaking with newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, threatened that the Union would embark on strike if the government refuse to accede to the union’s request.
He said that the reopening of the matter that had been decided by the National Industrial Court would affect the industrial harmony being enjoyed in the universities as there a subsisting court judgment in favor of the union.
The SSANU president further stated that if the government goes ahead to implement the directive, over 3,000 of its members would be affected, while adding that SSANU would “fight” the development to finish.
SSANU’s boss accused the government of breaching the agreement with the union, even when the court had given a judgment on the matter.
“This is a negation of our agreement with government because those members of ours who are in the university demonstration schools are bonafide members of university staff.
”They have their employment letters signed by the registrar’s of various universities, as approved by councils under the terms and conditions for engagement is that they will operate and be paid based on the consolidated salary scale, that is paid to all university staff.
“Unfortunately, this development shows that government is trying to create another friction between us and them,” he said.
Haruna also noted that such an attempt was made six years ago, and the case was also taken to the industrial court.
He added that after a long battle, we got a judgment in our favor. And it was interpreted that members of staff in the universities who teach in the university staff, schools, or demonstration schools are bonafide members of staff of universities, as employed by councils.
”Therefore, they should be treated as such, those that were sacked should be returned, and that their salaries should be restored.
“We were happy and we celebrated this, the government complied to an extent, even though there are still some universities that have returned them but have refused to pay the backlog of their salaries that they missed.
“So, all of a sudden, this is the recent development, like I call it negative development that has erupted and our members cannot sit down and watch or the union cannot sit and watch its members being maltreated.
“Our expectation is that we should allow that to continue until when they retire.
”If the government is planning to stop funding, personnel costs of teachers in the university demonstration schools, it should be from the new employments they are making, but not those already employed and signed contract with,” he said. (NAN).
It would be recalled that the leadership of SSANU and NASU had on Friday, 5th February directed its members to embark on a nationwide strike that cripples most government institutions.
The union, as part of its demand, had requested that government correct the inconsistencies related to the payroll of members and pay them their minimum wage.
