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The National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of Universities may well go on strike again !
YOUNEWS can mention authoritatively that the Half- Salary offer by the Federal Government, otherwise tagged “amputated salary” by ASUU is the bane this time around.
The ‘no work, no pay’ policy could not be applicable to ASUU.The lectures are insisting.
An emergency meeting held at Abuja University to that effect yesterday, Monday, November 7th.
The meeting held at the union’s headquarters at the University of Abuja.
Leaders of the union, said the lecturers would decide whether or not to resume strike following the payment of half salary by the government.
The main agenda of the emergency meeting was to discuss the payment of half-salaries to the lecturers.
They deliberated on options available yo counter the half a salary style from Federal Government.
YOUNEWS learnt that the national body will come out with a decision on way forward today, Tuesday.
And since it is a national matter, all branches are going to abide by whatever decision is taken.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), who is the lead counsel to ASUU, in a statement on Sunday, explained why the ‘no work, no pay’ policy could not be applicable to ASUU.
In parts, Falana said, “According to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the lecturers were paid in pro rata to the number of days that they worked in October, counting from the day that they suspended their industrial action.
“The position of the Federal Government is factually faulty and legally misleading. Since the industrial action was called off, the public universities have adjusted their calendars to ensure that the 2021–2022 academic session is not cancelled. Consequently, students are currently taking lectures or writing examinations that were disrupted during the strike of the ASUU. Therefore, having regard to the facts and circumstances of the ASUU strike, the doctrine of “no work, no pay” is totally inapplicable, as students who were not taught during the strike are currently attending lectures and writing examinations.
“Furthermore, it is public knowledge that the members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors embarked on a strike that lasted two months last year. The Federal Government dragged the striking doctors to the National Industrial Court, which ordered the NARD to call off the strike. As soon as the strike was called off, President Muhammadu Buhari jettisoned the “no work, no pay” principle and ordered the payment of the salaries for the two months that the strike lasted. On that occasion, the President overruled Dr Chris Ngige in the interest of industrial harmony in the health sector.
“In view of the foregoing, since the Federal Government is mandatorily required to treat all workers equally, the members of ASUU are entitled to be treated like members of the NARD after they had called off their strike. In other words, as members of ASUU and NARD are entitled to equality of rights, obligations, and opportunities before the law, the lecturers should be paid their salaries withheld during the period of the recently suspended 8-month industrial action.”
