SSANU, NAAT, NASU call off two week old strike

After two weeks of indefinite strike, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Non Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), have called off its industrial action, after reaching a new agreement with the Federal Government.

While directing its members to resume work on September 25, 2017, the aggrieved union leaders however warned that failure on the part of government to honour the new agreement within the next one month would lead to resumption of the suspended action.

A statement signed by the national presidents of the unions which was made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday, and , after a meeting that lasted over eight hours with the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Chris Ngige and related government officials, said the strike would have been averted if government had done the needful by honouring the agreements entered into with the unions in 2009, which, among others contained diversity of issues bordering on the welfare of its members, and sustenance and survival of the university system among others.

The statement added “Following heated engagements and exchanges on the issues in contention, certain understandings were reached on the issues which we hope, given the calibre of people on the government side, who we assume until otherwise proven, to be honourable gentlemen true to their words, would be realised within the time frames promised.

“Arising from the series of deliberations and engagements, we have once again gone to the drawing board. The negotiations we have had since the beginning of the strike have developed a template which, we hope, will be a panacea to the continued conflicts between the university based non-teaching staff unions and the Federal Government.

“The major bane we have in our labour firmament is not so much about lack of agreements but the actualisation of the agreements. This is reason for the prevalence of industrial actions in recent times.

“To this end, beginning with the understanding reached early this morning, today, Thursday, September 21, 2017, with the JAC of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, we enjoin Government to respect agreements reached and ensure their compliance. We maintain our principled stand on the dictum “Pacta Sum Servanda” – Agreements entered into must be honoured.

“This dictum is not restricted to this agreement alone, but any other agreement signed with workers across all sectors.

“Following exhaustive and extensive consultations with our various union organs, we hereby announce the suspension of the strike action embarked upon by the Joint Action Committee of NAAT, NASU and SSANU, on the understanding that the time lines agreed with the Federal Government on the various issues are met.

“We have consequently directed our members to resume work on Monday, September 25, 2017. In one month’s time, we shall be reviewing the level of compliance with the agreement and shall not hesitate to resume the strike action if government reneges on the agreements reached or delays in any aspects,” it read in parts.

Recall that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of NAAT, NASU and SSANU had embarked on an indefinite strike on Monday September 11, 2017.