SSANU, NASU call off warning strike, workers to resume duties
After a week-long warning strike, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) have instructed their members to return to work starting from Monday, March 25, 2024.
Mohammed Ibrahim, the President of SSANU, issued a circular to branch chairmen at public universities across the nation, officially ending the industrial action.
The strike, which commenced on March 18, 2024, was triggered by the withholding of salaries by the Federal Government. Employees in various departments such as registry, bursary, works and maintenance, security, and students’ affairs had withdrawn their services in protest.
Both SSANU and NASU expressed dissatisfaction with the government’s decision to pay withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting the non-academic staff. They argued that this treatment amounted to unfairness and discrimination.
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Previously, the unions had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to push for improved welfare conditions. Despite facing a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ from the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, they received partial relief when President Bola Tinubu approved the release of four months’ worth of withheld salaries last October.
The strike action led to administrative paralysis in public universities nationwide, with hostels closed, gates shut, and electricity supply severed.
While the unions’ move has drawn criticism from the Minister of Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, who condemned it as a disregard for government efforts to address their grievances, SSANU and NASU remain steadfast in their pursuit of equitable treatment for all university staff.
