The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has again called on the Federal Government to pay the withheld three-and-a-half months salaries of members across the nation’s universities.
The union insisted that since its members did not declare strike nor join the Academic Staff Union of Universities( ASUU) during the last nationwide strike in 2022 upon which the salaries were withheld, the government shouldn’t have withheld the salaries of members.
The National President of the group, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, gave this position in a statement made available to Nigerian Tribune on Tuesday.
CONUA is a breakaway group from ASUU and registered as an independent union during the tenure of Dr Chris Ngige as a Minister of Labour and Employment.
He argued that for the Federal Government to be treating ASUU members, who went on strike that period, the same way as CONUA members who didn’t go on strike was simply unjust, describing the action as “tantamount to punishing the innocent alongside the guilty.”
According to him, this action of Federal Government goes against the judgment delivered on 25th July, 2023 at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), affirming CONUA as an independent union.
“So, President Bola Tinubu in particular should note that withholding the three and a half months salaries of CONUA members, who neither declared nor participated in any industrial action contravenes Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, which states that ‘where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remunerations for the period of the lock-out and the period of the lock-out shall not prejudicially affect any rights of the workers being rights dependent on the continuity of period of employment,” Sunmonu pointed out.
This provision, he added, is consistent with global best practices, urging the government to release the withheld salaries to CONUA members so as not to “throw universities into another industrial crisis.”
CONUA also called on President Tinubu to do upward review of salaries and allowances of lecturers, saying for academics to remain on almost the same salaries for 15 years despite the steady rise in costs of living is totally unfair and condemnable.
Though, while acknowledging that the Federal Government recently implemented the payment of 35% and 25% salary increment for staff of tertiary institutions, CONUA boss disclosed that for one year (January – December 2023), the arrears from the increment are not paid till date.
“So, it is important that government offset all these outstanding arrears as lecturers who are financially down and psychologically troubled will find it difficult to concentrate optimally on their jobs of teaching, research and community engagements, which constitute their mandates,” he noted.
CONUA also expressed dissatisfaction over its exclusion by the Federal Government from the recently constituted renegotiation team, noting that it had already submitted a protest letter to both the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa and the Chairman of the Renegotiation Committee, Yayale Mahmud Ahmed, over the exclusion.
He said, “We also copied some relevant government offices including that of the Senate President, the Speaker, House of Representatives, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, the Chief of Staff, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice with the letter. And we did this so as to carry them along on our concerns.”
Sunmonu, while demanding immediate inclusion of CONUA representatives in the renegotiation committee, argued that to do contrary is the same as shaving the head of CONUA members in their absence.
He, therefore, urged the Federal Government to take all these issues very seriously and address them for the purpose of fairness, equity and peaceful academic environments in the nation’s public universities.
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