JUST IN: SSANU, NASU suspend strike

The striking members of the non-academic staff of Nigerian public universities have announced the suspension of the indefinite strike from Tuesday, 5 November.

The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) disclosed this in a strike update sent to the chairpersons of branches across the country on Sunday.

The suspension comes a day after the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) said payments to members of the unions “had commenced and many have confirmed receipt.”

Strike

Both unions had on Sunday announced an indefinite strike that began on Monday after the government failed to pay the union’s four months withheld salaries from 2022.

In an attempt to end the strike, the outgoing Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu, and the ministry’s permanent secretary, Nasir Gwarzo, met with the leadership of the unions on Thursday. But the meeting ended in a deadlock, according to the unions, as they refused to shift ground. They insisted that the strike would only be suspended after their members received the withheld salaries.

Strike suspended

A Sunday statement jointly signed by SSANU President Mohammed Ibrahim and NASU General Secretary Peters Adeyemi said the decision to suspend the strike followed commitments secured after engagements with the Ministers of Education and Finance.

The unions noted that the government has committed to the payment of two of the four months’ salaries.

According to the statement, payment for the first month would be made at the end of October while the second month would be paid at the end of November.

The unions, therefore, suspended the strike for a month, starting from Tuesday, 5 November, it said.

The statement reads in part: “In view of the level of commitment exhibited by the new minister and the leadership of the Department of State Service, the leadership of JAC, after several contacts and other patriotic consideration, hereby directs that the ongoing indefinite strike be suspended for one-month effective Tuesday 5th November 2024.

“We wish to also reiterate that discussions on the remaining 2 months, the N50 billion Earned Allowances, Arrears of 25/35 per cent and the wage award have been revisited and are undergoing deliberations.”

Withheld salaries

SSANU and NASU had fought to have the four months’ salaries paid since 2022. The salaries were withheld after the government implemented a “No Work, No Pay” policy during a university workers’ strike that lasted eight months in 2022.

Both unions were, however, on strike for only four months and, as a result, had salaries for those four months withheld. The academic workers, meanwhile, were on strike for eight months before a court order forced them to suspend the strike.

Last year, President Bola Tinubu directed the payment of four of the eight months withheld salaries for the academic staff. The directive was silent about the fate of the non-academic staff.

When the academic staff members received the withheld salaries in February, the non-academic unions intensified their efforts to have theirs paid too. However, their efforts did not immediately yield the desired results.

The unions subsequently wrote to the government, gave ultimatums, protested and held warning strikes, but their four-month salaries were still being withheld, leading to last week’s strike.