ASUU ‘to meet Sunday night/Monday morning’ to decide on strike

Striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has announced that its National Executive Council (NEC) will soon meet to decide on whether or not to continue with the over five-month industrial action.

The lecturers have been on strike despite several meetings with the Federal Government , reportedly making concessions, including the adoption of the contentious University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) as the payment platform of lecturers.

So far, sister unions in the tertiary education circle, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU) have announced suspension of their industrial action.

Only, last Friday, another academic workers’ union, the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), suspended its three-month old nationwide strike.

Making the latest announcement via its verified social media handle, ASUU disclosed, Sunday, that its highest decision making organ, the NEC will sit either on Sunday night or Monday morning (August 28 or29) to decide on the next line of action.

“The National Executive Council, NEC, of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will Sunday night/ Monday morning decide on whether the union would continue its over six months strike that has left most public universities in the country shut down,” read the notice posted by the union.

Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU) had announced suspension of their industrial action.

The public universities’ staff unions suspended their industrial action, last week Saturday, following a meeting with the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu in Abuja, earlier Friday.

However, the suspension is expected to take effect from Wednesday, August 24.

This as also as their sister labour group, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) hinted at calling off the nearly six-month long industrial action next Monday, August 22.

The decision by the SSANU and NASU to suspend their strike followed the assurance by the Education Minister that the Federal Government has committed N50 billion to offset earned allowances for members of SSANU, NASU and the ASUU.

However, activities in public universities are expected to remain limited as ASUU remains on strike.

Adamu, who had hinted of SSANU and NASU’s strike suspension on Thursday, however, said ASUU rejected Federal Government’s proposal over the ‘no work, no pay’ rule.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14, this year.

There were strong indications that ASUU which embarked on total, indefinite industrial action is set to return to work.

A notice posted by ASUU via its various social media handles, last weekend, said the union’s members, who include university lecturers may likely return to the classrooms from Monday, August 22.

“There are strong indications that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which embarked on total, indefinite industrial action last Monday will likely resume work early next week, following ongoing negotiations with the FG.

“During a private meeting with a team of the National Higher Education Forum on Thursday in Abuja, the education minister, Adamu Adamu hinted that universities will likely reopen for learning soon while confirming ongoing talks.

“Adamu confirmed that the government has agreed to release the balance of N23billion Earned Allowances to the striking lecturers,” read the notice.

It would be recalled that while other unions agreed to suspend their strike, ASUU had objected to the Federal Government’s insistence on cancelling outstanding wages incurred while the lecturers were on strike.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, Friday, ASUU’s President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, insisted that salary backlogs must be cleared before lecturers return to the classroom.

“If we agree on that, therefore, the lectures we should have given [to students] for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 [sessions], should be allowed to go so we start a new session, 2022/2023, in September.

“Therefore, by July next year, I would go on my leave as we used to have in those days so that the backlog is gone. All the lectures that remain; all the two sets of admissions that JAMB has given that are waiting should become irrelevant.

“When other unions go on strike and come back, all those periods for which you are on strike, you don’t need to do the backlog of work.

“But for ASUU, when we go back today, we are going to start from the 2020/2021 session. For these two sets of students that have been admitted by JAMB, we have to teach them over these periods to ensure that we meet up with the system.

“So, we are going to do the backlog of the work we have left behind. We are not going to start today and say ‘This session is 2022/2023, therefore, all these two sets of people that have been admitted by JAMB are cancelled. We have to take another admission for the 2023/2024 session,’” Prof Osodeke said.

The ASUU chief also said the union does not need a pity party over the government’s withholding of the lecturers’ wages, maintaining that the union “can take care” of its members.

The last meeting of the ASUU held Wednesday, August 24 ended with majority resolving to continue with the industrial action, with the Ekiti and Abia state-owned universities calling off the strike at their various institutions.

The meeting was convened followed Federal Government’s decision to adopt the UTAS payment payment platform for university teachers.