Government Not Against New Welfare Package For ASUU, SSANU, Others — Minister

The Federal Government on Sunday said it was in support of renegotiation of the welfare package for University workers in line with current realities.

This is as the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC has decided to wade into the face-off between the four university-based unions and the federal government over non-payment of minimum wage arrears, the shortfall in salary payment, renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement and revitalization funds among others.

Speaking at a meeting with members of the 2009 FG and University-based unions renegotiation committee, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said that the government was not happy with the approach being used by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to pursue its demands.

Recall that ASUU embarked on a one-month warning strike on February 14 and extended it to another two months at the expiration of the warning strike over the alleged failure of the government to address their demands.

But Senator Ngige at the meeting with the Federal Government Renegotiation Committee in his office pleaded with the committee to ensure that it concludes its assignment within six weeks as provided in the Memorandum of Action, MoA, with the unions.

He asked the re-negotiation team to ensure that it keeps to the six weeks’ timeline for the conclusion of their assignment.

Ngige said the federal government was aware of the level of depreciation to which the Lecturers earning have been subjected due to the rise in the inflationary rate, adding that he had advised the leadership of ASUU to find a better way of pressurizing the Federal Ministry of Education and National Universities Commission, NUC, to hasten action on the Implementation of agreements reached with the government rather than rushing to strike every time there was a disagreement.

Speaking on the state of conditions of service of lecturers and other university workers, the Minister said that he had commissioned studies on productivity vis-a-vis emoluments and that the result was that payments done ten years ago when the dollar was strong have now lost value with 100 per cent depreciation.

He said, “Why won’t I support if ASUU and their unions now want a renegotiation of their conditions of service, which is the main thing in the proposal by the previous Committee.”

Chairman of the 2009 FG and University-based union renegotiation Committee, Prof. Nimi Briggs said his Committee was consulting all the stakeholders with a view to finding an amicable solution to the ASUU dispute.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has scheduled to meet with the four university-based unions over the ongoing strike in the Universities.

NLC said it was worried that public universities in the country have been closed down as a result of the strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied Educational Institutions, NAAT, and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.

The four unions affiliated with the NLC shut down universities over unresolved issues including difficulties they face with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS, non-payment of the minimum wage arrears, revatizatipn funds, and nonreview of the 2009 Agreement with the government.

The NLC explained that the scheduled meeting with the four striking unions was to know their level of engagement with the federal government.