The union said payment of its members on “pro-rata” basis is not only condemnable but also amounted to casualising the academics
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has formally spoken on the controversies trailing the payment of “mutilated” salaries for its members for the month of October.
ASUU, in a statement, after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Monday, condemned the government’s action but allayed the public fear of another industrial action.
Condemnation
In its statement, ASUU said the government’s action of paying 18 days salaries to its members contravene “all known rules of engagement in any contract of employment for academics the world over.”
The statement signed by its president, Emmanuel Osodeke, a professor of soil science, restated that the union suspended its strike in October in obedience of the order of the court and in consideration of interventions by well-meaning Nigerians including the speaker of the house of rep, Femi Gbajabiamila.
The statement further reads: “The action of the union was a display of manifest trust in the judiciary and other institutions and organs of government to always put national interest above all other considerations.
“This, we believe, as a union of thinkers, intellectuals, and patriots, will not only aid the process of amicable resolution of the crisis, but will also set the tone for smooth industrial relations between Government and Nigerian workers at large.
“NEC noted with dismay that paying academics on “pro-rata” basis, like casual workers, is unprecedented in the history of university oriented labour relations and therefore condemned this attempt to reduce Nigerian scholars to casual workers in its entirety.”
The union, however, commended its members for persevering “all the hardship that comes with the industrial action.”
It also appealed for the understanding of Nigerian students, parents and “other genuinely concerned individuals and groups while the union continues to pursue positive resolution of this avoidable crisis within the ambit of legality without compromising the interests and welfare of Nigerian intellectuals.”
Meanwhile, the Speaker of the House of Representatives said on Monday that interventions to ‘explore the partial payment’ of salaries to lecturers in the public universities are being considered by President Muhammadu Buhari.
