Members of the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) are set to invoke ‘no pay, no work’ in retaliation to the Federal Government policy of ‘no work, no pay’ against them.
They warned the government to stop the casualisation of ASUU members through payment of half salaries.
Secretary, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) ASUU Dr. Olatunji Abdulganiyu said this on Monday, November 28, 2022, when they embarked on a peaceful rally.
Recall that on Friday, October 16, 2022, ASUU suspended its eight-month-old strike which had shut down public universities in the country to demand full implementation of agreements it had entered into with the Federal Government a few years ago.
While the ASUU strike lasted, the federal government had insisted on implementing the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy when the university teachers were away from their duty posts.
However, things took a new turn on Thursday, November 3, 2022, when it was gathered that the government only paid half-month salaries to the university teachers.’
But the Minister of Education later said the position of the Federal Government was that the lecturers “would not be paid for work not done.”
During the rally on Monday, members carried placards that read: “universities are meant to produce knowledgeable graduates not certificate earning graduates; ”politicians want universities to keep producing certificate-earning graduates, not knowledgeable graduates,” information literacy is important for Nigerian citizens.”
Abdulganiyu warned Federal Government to be ready for mother all of strikes in the universities if it does not rescind its obnoxious anti-intellectual policy.
According to him: “Let me assure you that our union is resolved to continue to call the attention of the government to its responsibilities despite the obnoxious treatment being meted out to us by the government.
”To this effect, though we have resumed work in our university, the government ignoble stance of withholding our eight months’ salaries, which is based on its ill-advised policy of “no work, no pay” is set to trigger fresh crises.
”In the coming days, the union would respond by considering to invoke the “No Pay, No work policy and would abandon the works that have accumulated for those periods, which government had falsely claimed, that our members have not worked.”
