JUST IN: Strike Continues – SSANU Declares After Meeting With FG
The Federal Government’s meeting with the leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of
Universities and Allied Institutions concluded without reaching an agreement on Wednesday, resulting in a deadlock.
According to the National President of SSANU, Muhammed Ibrahim, the unions have decided to proceed with the industrial action.
“Strike continues,” Ibrahim told journalists shortly after the meeting, the PUNCH reported.
It was reported earlier that SSANU and NASU initiated a nationwide strike lasting seven days starting on Monday.
The strike was a response to the Federal Government’s refusal to release their four-month salaries, which had been withheld in 2021 due to their participation in the
strike.
During President Muhammadu Buhari’s tenure, the government withheld salaries, citing the principle of ‘No work; no pay’.
However, the current administration under President Bola Tinubu took a different approach and ordered the release of the withheld salaries for members of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, who had also been affected by the previous administration’s ‘no work; no pay’ policy.
SSANU and NASU, feeling excluded, expressed their dissatisfaction by writing a letter to the Tinubu government, requesting the release of their withheld salaries.
The repeated demands were, however, disregarded by the government, leading to the initiation of a strike by the two unions.
The seven-day warning strike, which commenced last Monday, resulted in the suspension of academic activities on university campuses nationwide.