LAUTECH ASUU Threatens To Disrupt Lectures Over Unpaid Salaries

Mr Ejump

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The crisis at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology
(LAUTECH) is far from been over as the institution’s branch
of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has
threatened to frustrate academic activities if the Osun State
Government refuses to pay their two months’ outstanding
salaries by the end of September.
The current Oyo and Osun state governments inherited
unpaid salary arrears of eight months owed LAUTECH
academic staff.
ASUU claimed that the Osun State Government, which had
planned to pay subvention between July and December
2019, only paid in July and refused to pay for August and
September, making payment of salaries impossible.
Rising from a Congress held on Wednesday, ASUU resolved
to put the public on notice that it should not be blamed if
academic activities at LAUTECH were disrupted again.
In a release captioned: “LAUTECH: Trouble Looming Again,”
and jointly signed by the ASUU LAUTECH Chairman and
Secretary, respectively, Dr. Biodun Olaniran and Dr. Toyin
Abegunrin, the union accused the Osun State Government
of failing to release subventions since August to pay salaries
of workers and making life unbearable for them.
Read Also: Osun, Oyo trade blames over
LAUTECH’s funding
According to the union, all entreaties to ensure that Osun
State Government pays outstanding salaries have not
yielded any result.
The union said that members were being owed six years of
unpaid Earned Academic Allowances, cooperative
deductions and promotions arrears.
ASUU stated: “The problem of poor funding that brought
LAUTECH to its knees in 2016/2017 is far from being over.
The University, since it came out of that crisis, has been
managing to survive with the new administrations in Oyo
and Osun states struggling to release the substantial part of
monthly subventions for the payment of salaries.
“This brought some relief as the management struggles to
attend to backlog of arrears through internally generated
revenue. As a consequence, the University’s calendar
started witnessing some stability. However, the whole story
started changing when, in August 2019, the government
refused to send the subvention for the payment of our
salaries. All entreaties to the government to pay our salaries
have not yielded any result. As we speak, the University is
already in arrears of two months, that is, August and
September, 2019 with no hope in sight as to when the
salaries will be paid.
“This is in addition to the existing eight months salaries
previously owed our members! The public must also be
aware of other forms of indebtedness to our members.
These include years of promotion arrears, Earned Academic
Allowances claims for 2013-2018, Cooperatives’ deductions,
etc. These are in addition to other statutory obligations to
the University, which have been left unattended to by the
governments.
“At a special congress held today, 25th September, 2019,
the situation was reviewed with members expressing
hardship in transporting themselves to work, among other
myriads of hardships occasioned by the non-payment of
salary. It was, therefore, resolved to put the government, the
public and our students on notice that the Union should not
be blamed if the on-going examinations and other academic
activities are affected when by end of the month, that is,
30th September, 2019, the congress meets again to review
the situation.”