The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has embarked on an industrial action with effect from school resumption.

The National President of SSANU, comrade Samson Ugwoke, who spoke on behalf of JAC, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Abuja at the end of its JAC meeting.

He noted that the leadership of NASU and SSANU were under tremendous pressure by its principals thus, “a strike action has been declared to commence effective from the date of resumption of work after the lifting of coronavirus lockdown.”

”As a responsible union, we have avoided these crisis but the irresponsibility of government and its officials have led us to a point where it had become inevitable.

”If by the time schools are asked to reopen and the needful is not done, it means hope is lost and the earlier avoidable industrial conflict becomes inevitable,” he said Ugwoke decried the challenges of short payments of salaries in almost all the federal universities, adding that ”the audience was that the short payments and mutilated salaries would cease upon enrollment in the scheme.”

He said assurances were given that “our Earned Allowances that had not been properly captured previously and across all universities would be properly integrated upon enrolment into IPPIS.”

However, he berated that following the enrollment of its members into the platform, ”it had become a case of ‘from frying own to fire.’” ”Our enrollment has turned out to be a complete disaster because of the serious of inconsistencies and irregularities currently being witnessed in the payment of salaries and emolument of our members,” he said.

Ugoke added that there were: ”Unwarranted and inexplicable delays going into the second half of the next month before payments of salaries; haphazard payments leading to non payment, underpayment, overpayments and multiple payments in some cases; misinterpretation and wrongful implementation of extant documents on statutory deductions as regard staff salaries and allowances in the university system; non payment of arrears on new minimum wage; and non issuance of payslip to workers.”

Source:- Daily Trust