The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) chapter at the University of Jos (UNIJOS) has begun a new’strike’ to protest the half-monthly salaries paid to its members for the month of October.
The union is also protesting the government’s refusal to pay the withheld eight months’ wages due to the union’s lengthy strike.
The union, on the other hand, has stated that it has not declared a strike, but that its members should refrain from working until the alleged injustice is corrected.
Chris Piwuna, the National Vice President of ASUU, is a member of the chapter and previously described the government’s action as “humiliating, insulting, and embarrassing.”
The chapter is the first to respond to what Nigerian lecturers have described as mutilated government salaries for the month of October.
It is the first pay they have received since the strike was called off on October 14, and they claim the government’s action does not reflect the agreement reached before the strike was called off.
They have accused Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, of being responsible for the “embarrassing treatment.”
Meanwhile, PREMIUM TIMES has confirmed that ASUU’s National Executive Council will meet on Monday to discuss the situation and take appropriate action.
“Stay at home” order Following its Friday congress, ASUU-UNIJOS directed its members to remain at home until their salaries were paid. It did, however, state that it was not on strike.
“In light of Ngige’s bottleneck in paying our members the backlog of our salaries, the congress of ASUU University of Jos met today 4th November, 2022 and resolved to stay at home, though not on strike, until the backlog of withheld salaries is paid,” a statement signed by the chairman of ASUU-UNIJOS chapter, Lazarus Maigoro, reads in part.
Mr Maigoro stated that the lecturers have returned and are ready to work but are unable to due to a lack of funds.
Payment of withheld salaries, he claims, is part of the agreements the union reached with House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila before the strike was called off.
“To be clear, our members are back to work, willing and ready to work but unable to work.” According to the revised academic calendar approved by the university senate for the 2020/2021 session, lectures should have begun by now, but the challenge of unpaid salaries has prevented our members from entering the classroom to teach. “What this means is that students who have already returned will have to wait indefinitely while we wait for our withheld salaries to be paid to us,” the statement continued.
Mr Ngige was accused by the union of personalizing the ASUU-government dispute.
