Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, has said that the ‘no work, no pay’ policy invoked by the Federal Government during the eight months strike embarked on by the four unions in the public universities should not affect its members because all the due process as specified by law were followed.
SSANU also explained that the four university-based unions rejected the 23.5 percent salary increase offered by the government because it was too meager to cushion the effect of the high cost of living occasioned by the harsh economic situation in the country.
The National President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim said that the Joint Action Committee, JAC, comprising his union and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU decided to suspend the strike because of the respect they have for the government, their patriotism for the country and the plea of students and parents as well as the general public.
“It is only proper that as we have done this (suspending the strike) to bring life into the system, government should reciprocate the gesture,” he said.
He also lamented that after two months the union called off the strike, it was expected that the renegotiation exercise should be concluded, nothing has been heard from the government.
Comrade Ibrahim further lamented that some of the SSANU members that are staying in rented apartment and their children in schools cannot afford to send the children back to school since academic activities resumed because there was no money to do so since the government had withheld their four months’ salary.
The union frowned at the government discriminatory policy in the payment of hazard allowance to medical workers in the Federal Medical Centers, and teaching hospitals while the medical workers in tertiary institutions were completely omitted and called the government to consider SSANU members that are medical workers in the payment of the hazard allowance.
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