As the indefinite strike of the three non-teaching staff unions of universities enters its third day, today, the Federal Government has said it remains faithful to the spirit of the Memorandum of Settlement (MOS) signed on September 20.
Reacting to the indefinite industrial action embarked upon by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) National Association of Academic Technologists(NAAT) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) operating under the acronym of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said government did not only fully meet all the 12-point conditions raised in the memorandum, but also, complied religiously with the timelines for implementation of the agreement.
A statement by the Deputy Director, Press, Samuel Olowookere enjoined workers to call off their on-going indefinite strike and make a fresh case regarding their reservation on implementation of the Point One of the Agreement, concerning disbursement of N23 billion Earned Allowances.
The minister said it is important for Nigerians to be informed that government has fully complied with its own part of the agreement and asked non-teaching staff of universities not to blame the federal government for what the striking unions termed the “skewed disbursement formula” in their respecitve insitutions.
“The Joint Action Committee of Non-Teaching Staff came with 12-point demands. We sat over it and agreed on all, on September 20, 2017.
“As I speak, the federal government has fully implemented major contemporary issues, such as payment of shortfalls, registration with PENCOM, etc., in the agreement. The only grievance the unions have is that modality for the disbursement of the N23 billion the Federal Government released for the settlement of earned allowances is skewed against them.
“But, I advised them, during the negotiation, to call off their strike when it entered the fifth day and quickly forward their own template for accessing this N23 billion meant for the academic and non-academic staff of the universities, since the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had already submitted. They bluntly refused and allowed the strike to drag for weeks,” he stated.
Ngige picked holes in the varsity workers’ argument that they merely resumed their suspended action, stressing that a strike which had been adequately conciliated, called off, and the terms of agreement implemented, cannot yield itself as a basis for resumption of the same action.
Said he, “If the unions under JAC are embarking on a fresh strike, they are yet to comply with the relevant sections of the Labour Laws for embarking on action.”
Ngige however, said that nothing had been lost as the unions could still make a fresh case for inclusion in the 2018 budget, adding that the Federal Government was willing to address this.
He therefore, warned the unions to avoid prompting the Federal Government to wield the big stick by invoking the relevant section of the labour laws on “No Work, No Pay,” saying it will be disastrous in the season of Christmas and end of the year, if implemented.
SSANU National President, Chijioke Ugwuoke had in a recent chat with Daily Sun, stated in clear terms that the unions were not intimidated by Federal Government’s plan to implement the ‘no work, no pay policy’.
Source:TheSun
