Unresolved Disputes, Unfulfilled Agreements Send Unions On Warpath
LAGOS – The Federal Government has come under pressure as restive workers’ unions rev up agitations over living conditions.
Among the labour unions that have recently been at daggers drawn with the government are the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC).
Resident doctors under the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) just called off their indefinite strike.
Already, the nation’s ivory towers are under very tense atmosphere as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to begin indefinite strike on Monday.
Also, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) have given the Federal Government seven days to address outstanding demands, or face an indefinite strike.
Parents and students are jittery as they fear that if nothing concrete and positive is done by the stakeholders, especially the Federal Government, activities in higher institutions will ground to a halt from tomorrow, Monday, September 22.
Sunday Investigation, however, shows that most of the strikes and threats of strike are due to several unfulfilled agreements between the Federal Government and the trade unions over salaries and workers’ welfare.
Unionists insist that Nigerian workers are hungry and angry and that their adrenaline can no longer take it in the face of ostentatious living by public officials and political leaders.
The Nigerian workers and the masses are now weighed down by the hardship occasioned by the economic situation in the country and might have resolved to take their destiny in their own hands.
ASUU raised key demands, including the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, sustainable funding and revitalisation of universities, payment of outstanding 25–35% salary arrears, promotion arrears spanning over four years, and unresolved third-party deductions.
According to an ASUU source, “The government promised action on these issues, yet, here we are, several years later, with no resolution.”
The issues are yet to be settled as both parties resolved to return once more for re-negotiation, following hints that the president was determined to end the trend of strikes in the academic sector.
114% pay review for the president, governors, legislators, and judges has presented the percentage at wages should be reviewed across the board for all Citizens.
“If the government continues to raise privileges at the top while ignoring workers’ cries below, strikes will multiply—and with them, the risk of workers’ revolution.”
Kunle Wizeman Ajayi, the General Secretary of United Action for Democracy (UAD), during an interaction with Sunday Independent, stated that workers have been badly treated and cheated by the TInubu regime.
Ajayi, the immediate-past National Coordinator, Socialist Workers’ League (SWL), said: “They (workers) are not only disappointed, but are afraid of even continuing work under the impunity of this hegemony.
“NUPENG has won a major unionisation battle against the anti-worker Dangote Petroleum, and it is an excellent victory.
“The NUPENG victory will inspire federal workers to rise and demand for better pay. It will spur ASUU on, and also the resident doctors.
“Workers’ pay cannot even take care of their transportation. Yet, politicians cash out billions of Naira from the same commonwealth grown by workers.
“This capitalist wickedness has to stop. And NUPENG has shown how it is done. I urge all workers to take a strong cue from NUPENG. Victoria Ascerta!”
GROUPS IN SOLIDARITY
Meanwhile, the Workers’ Rights Campaign (WRC) has said that it stands in full solidarity with the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) who recently embarked on a five-day warning strike and later declared full-blown indefinite strike before it was called off following the Senate intervention.
The WRC, which said the NARD strike was crucial, in a statement signed by Kelvin Ayemhenre, its National Secretary, and made available to Sunday Independent, said: “We understand that your decision to embark on this action is rooted in the unjust and undignified way with which issues concerning resident doctors and healthcare delivery have been treated by the FCT administration.
We condemn the government’s failure to meet the demands of your association despite numerous warnings, and your calling off an earlier strike in January with the belief that government would do the need.
“Persistent inaction on the part of the government, regarding your legitimate demands shows their disinterest in not only the welfare of doctors, but also in the life and health of Nigerians.
“We also must say that we indeed appreciate the bold step that you have taken not just for yourselves, but for all Nigerians, because health care is a matter of serious concern to each and every one of us, most especially the public health care system.
We acknowledge the sacrifices healthcare workers make, often under life-threatening conditions, and urge the government to prioritise improving the standard of facilities in our public hospitals in the interest of all healthcare workers, and patients.”
Observers are worried that if the Federal Government fails to end these strikes and threats to strike early enough, civil society groups and student unions may embark on sympathy protests and this could provoke social disorder and significant economic losses.
Source:independent.ng
