On Tuesday, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) formally reacted to the federal government’s half-payment of October members’ salaries, saying the action was not only reprehensible but totally rejected.
ASUU President Professor Emmanuel Osodeke made the stance in a statement provided to journalists on Tuesday.
He said ASUU suspended the industrial action for eight months on October 14 to comply with the order of the National Industrial Court and intervention efforts by some well-intentioned Nigerians including House Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
He said the ASUU’s action to suspend the strike at the time demonstrated a clear trust in the judiciary and other government agencies and agencies, who always put the national interest above other considerations.
He said the union believed that such action would not only contribute to the process of an amicable resolution of the crisis, but would also set the tone for smooth industrial relations between the government and Nigerian workers at large.
Osodeke explained that ASUU’s national executive committee on Monday considered the development of half-wage wages and other issues about them, and concluded that academics are paid “pro-rata” as if they were temporary workers, which is in the unprecedented in American history. University-oriented labor relations anywhere in the world.
As a result, unions have condemned the move as an attempt to reduce Nigerian academics to casual workers, he said.
He said the NEC commended ASUU members for their “persistence in the face of endless difficulties and unprovoked provocations by some of the notorious proxies of the ruling class”.
He said that while the NEC further appealed to the understanding of Nigerian students, parents and other genuine concerned individuals and groups, the union would continue to actively address this avoidable crisis within the law without compromising the interests and welfare of Nigerian intellectuals.
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