From Benjamin Babine, Abuja
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige is currently meeting with the Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), in hopes to avert the imminent strike.
The meeting which is holding at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Abuja, has in attendance the SSANU National President, Mohammed Ibrahim; and NASU General Secretary, Peters Adeyemi.
The Unions had announced that plans to embark on a nationwide strike from February 5, 2021 over the Federal Government’s handling of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, sharing formula of the N40 billion earned academic allowances and non-payment of arrears of the new minimum wage.
Other of its demands are the non-payment of retirement benefits to former members, non-constitution of visitation panels to universities, poor funding of universities, teaching staff usurping the headship of non-teaching units, among others.
The unions had previously embarked on a three-day protest over the government’s failure to honour the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the unions on October 20, 2020.
Details coming…