Withheld Salaries: SSANU, NASU strike continues as meeting with govt deadlocked

In an attempt to end the strike, the Ministry of Education invited officials of the unions to a meeting on Thursday.

The non-academic staff unions in Nigerian public universities said the strike action that began on Monday continues until their members receive their withheld four months’ salaries.

The Vice President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Abdussobur Salaam, disclosed this to PREMIUM TIMES shortly after meeting with the government representatives at the Federal Ministry of Education on Thursday.

“We are not suspending for now but we are awaiting the actions from the ministry, based on what they have told us, the assurances they have given us,” he told our reporter via telephone on Thursday.

SSANU, NASU strike

Activities have been grounded across Nigerian universities for four days now since the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) announced an indefinite strike on Sunday. The strike followed the alleged government’s failure to meet their demands after several meetings and ultimatums elapsed.

The effect of the strike action appears to be minimal as most of the universities are currently on break.

In an attempt to end the strike, the leadership of the education ministry invited officials of the unions to a meeting on Thursday.

The meeting, held at the education ministry, had the outgoing Minister of State for Education, Yusuf Sununu and the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Nasir Gwarzo, interfacing with the leadership of both unions including the National Presidents of both NASU and SSANU, Hassan Makolo, and Mohammed Ibrahim respectively.

Outcome of meeting

Mr Salaam, who was also present at the meeting, said Mr Sununu assured the unions that the withheld salaries would soon be paid but couldn’t give a specific date as to when it would be paid.

He noted that the government had, on multiple occasions, given their words and failed to redeem them. “Therefore, the unions would wait until the withheld salaries are paid before suspending the ongoing strike.”

He said: “We are not suspending for now but we are awaiting the actions from the ministry based on what they have told us, the assurances they have given us,” he said.

“We have dealt with too many assurances which have not translated to any results, so we are not in a hurry to take them for their words, until when we receive an alert, then we know that what they have assured us has translated into reality.”

Withheld salaries

The Nigerian government withheld the salaries of university staff who took part in an eight-month-long strike in 2022 over the disagreement between the unions and the government.

SSANU and NASU members were on strike for four months, suspending it after appeals by the then education minister, Adamu Adamu. However, the academic staff continued with the strike for eight months until an industrial court ordered the suspension of the strike at the instance of the government.

Meanwhile, the government had introduced a “No Work, No Pay” policy, thereby withholding the salaries of the workers for the period the strike lasted.

However, last October, President Bola Tinubu directed the payment of four of the eight months withheld salaries for the academic staff. It was finally paid in February.

But the directive was silent about the non-teaching staff, which the non-academic staff described as selective and kicked against it.

The unions subsequently wrote to the government, gave ultimatums, protested and held warning strikes, but their four-month salaries are still being withheld, leading to the ongoing strike.