ASUU Threatens Indefinite Strike Across South-East, South-South Varsities Over Unpaid Allowances
(ASUU. Punch News)
A “total, comprehensive, and indefinite” strike in state-owned colleges has been threatened by the Calabar Zone of the Academic Staff Union of colleges due to the Federal Government’s failure to implement agreements, unpaid allowances, and ongoing disregard for employee welfare.
Academic personnel in public universities in Abia, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, and Cross River in the South-East and South-South are represented by the ASUU Calabar Zone.
The union could no longer ensure industrial harmony at Abia State University, Akwa Ibom State University, Ebonyi State University, and University of Cross River State, according to a statement released following a zonal meeting on Tuesday in Calabar and signed by Ikechuku Igwenyi, the zonal coordinator, and chairpersons of ASUU branches within the component states.
With the exception of the University of Cross River State’s (UNICROSS) limited implementation, the union emphasized that the impacted schools have not implemented any element of the 2009 Federal Government agreement with ASUU.
“The Calabar Zonal leadership of ASUU today, sadly, alerts all well-meaning Nigerians that it cannot guarantee industrial harmony and, therefore, should not be held responsible when the internal mechanisms collapse,” says part of the statement.
“This warning is intended to alert the administrations of ABSU, AKSU, EBSU, and UNICROSS, as well as governing councils and pertinent government authorities, to the fact that these universities in the zone will undoubtedly be on the verge of a “total, comprehensive and indefinite industrial action” due to the ongoing disregard for employee welfare and the violation of contracts.
The panel observed that the university environment in these schools has grown intolerable despite years of tolerance and unusual maturity on the part of impacted members.
The union’s main complaints included the failure to pay earned academic allowances, the failure to implement the 25/35% wage award, the consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage, and the recently signed agreement with the Federal Government on professorial and consolidated academic tool allowances.
It also condemned ongoing salary payment delays, claiming that they had caused members “severe financial hardships” and reduced productivity.
Additionally, check-off dues, cooperative savings, pension payments, and union welfare dues were among the third-party deductions that the statement accused university administrations of withholding.
The statement stated, “In UNICROSS, for example, the university administration has deducted and withheld 24 months’ worth of union dues, welfare and Special Support Levy, ASUU UNICROSS deduction, and National Housing Fund deduction since 2018.”
The union bemoaned how inflation has reduced university employees to the “ranks of the working poor,” making it “uphill tasks” to pay for their children’s education, rent, and medical expenses.
“We can no longer be expected to uphold industrial peace when our members are unable to pay for their fundamental necessities. The zonal leadership declared, “This is a battle for the future of the university system, not just a disagreement over numbers.
In order to prevent the crisis, it urged the federal and state governments to act right now saying traditional rulers, parents, students, and the public should hold the various state governments responsible if the strike begins.