Striking tertiary unions except ASUU to resume next week – FG

The Federal Government has revealed that other academic unions that negotiated with it including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SANNU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) will resume work in the next one week.

This was disclosed by the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on Thursday, at the State House Ministerial Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team in Abuja.

The FG stated that ASUU won’t resume because it is yet to accept FG’s offers and is yet to call of its strike.

What the minister is saying

The Minister said that ASUU insisting on being paid six months’ salaries of the strike period is what is stalling the negotiations between the Federal Government and the union, urging that the government is committed to its ‘no work no pay’ rule to serve as deterrence to other unions

• He said ”If you think it is for the government other than what the government is doing in the university to stop strike, the standard government has taken now is not to pay the months in which no work was done.
• ”I think this is the only thing that is in the hands of government to ensure that there is penalty for some behaviour like this.
• ”So, I believe teachers will think twice before they join strikes if they know that at the end they are not going to be paid and the federal government is not acting arbitrarily.
• ”Before, it was some magnanimity on its part, there is a law which says if there is no work, there will be no pay.
• ”I believe this will be a very strong element that will be determined from going on strike,” he said.

The Minister expressed optimism that other unions like Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SANNU), Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions, (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) will resume work in the next one week.

The minister also dismissed media reports that the president gave him a two-week ultimatum to resolve the misunderstanding between ASUU and the Federal Government.

In case you missed it

• Nairametrics reported earlier that the Federal Government asked students affected by the ongoing strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to take the union to court to claim possible damages incurred during the period of the strike.
• The government said that it is not its responsibility to compensate students affected by the 6-month-old industrial action but that of ASUU.