The Joint Action Committee of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and allied institutions has extended its ongoing strike by two months.
This was made known on Wednesday, in a statement signed by the National President, SSANU, Mr. Mohammed Ibrahim, and General Secretary, Mr. Peter Adeyemi.
The statement reads,”We wish to all members of NASU and SSANU for their sustained compliance with the National directive on the ongoing strike action.The compliance of members even in the face of the denials of our salaries, threats and harassment,has continued to give the national leadership the needed strength and focus to forge ahead on our demands.
“The success recorded by the JAC of NASU and SSANU over the payment of the Minimum Wage Consequential Adjustment arrears, which all staff in the University system benefited, was only made possible by the resilience of our members.
“We note however, that we still have a few members across the Branches and from Federal Universities of Agriculture who are yet to be paid,JAC is not resting on it’s oars and shall ensure these omissions are resolved.
The statement added the three payment softwares,U3PS,UTAS and IPPIS are currently being subjected to daily tests which have spanned three weeks so far and are still ongoing with the assurance that U3PS is been conceived to cater for all salaries table and allowances operational in the University system and there will be no reason to fear exclusion by any group within the system.
“The negotiations with the Government is ongoing even though at an exceedingly slow space.
‘‘In view of the fact that government is still a long way from effectively resolving the issues in contention, it is only expedient that we allow the process to be fully concluded before directing the end of the strike.
“Consequently, you are hereby informed that the strike has been extended by two months, within which we are hoping that all the contentious issues would have been effectively laid to rest. The two-month extension is with effect from Friday, June 24, 2022.’’
“We urge you to keep up the spirit across the Branches as we are slowly inching close to victory”.
The statement urged the members to disregard any rumours or misinformation about the struggle especially in social media and rely on their National leaders for a factual and true information.
Recall NPO reported the strike of NASU and SSANU which started with a warning strike of two weeks on Sunday, March 27, 2022, while the extension of another two weeks commenced on Sunday, April 10, 2022, and it is still ongoing.
Some of the demands of SSANU include the inconsistent issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system, unpaid earned allowances, delay in the renegotiation of the FGN, NASU, SSANU agreements, and non-payment of minimum wage arrears.
Others include neglect and poor funding of state universities, non-payment of retirement benefits to outgoing members of the unions, and usurpation of the headship of non-teaching units in clear violation of conditions of service and establishment procedures, among others.