FUOYE Non-Academic Staff Threaten Strike Over Unpaid Salaries

 

FUOYE Non-Academic Staff Threaten Strike Over Unpaid Salaries

Members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) at the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) have staged a peaceful protest to demand the payment of their withheld four-month salaries by the Federal Government.

The protesting workers marched through the campus with placards bearing various inscriptions, calling on the Federal Government to release their withheld salaries and implement their other outstanding demands.

Addressing members, the chairman of SSANU, FUOYE branch, Comrade Adedeji Kazeem Suarau, called on the Federal Government to hasten the implementation of their demands to avoid a total breakdown of university education.

He said the withheld salaries were due to the implementation of the 'No Work, No Pay' policy of the government under former President Muhammadu Buhari. Suarau added that when President Tinubu came on board, he pardoned and gave approval that the withheld salaries be paid, but to their dismay, their sister union, ASUU, members were paid while the other non-teaching staff were left out.

The SSANU chairman urged the Federal Government to wake up to its responsibility by paying all their outstanding salaries and allowances. He warned that if their demands are not met, they will have no other option than to go on total strike.

The protest at FUOYE is part of a nationwide action by SSANU and NASU to draw attention to the plight of non-academic staff in Nigerian universities. The unions have accused the government of unfair treatment by failing to pay them their eight months' withheld salaries like their counterparts in ASUU.

With the threat of a strike looming, the Federal Government must act quickly to resolve the issues and prevent further disruption to university education in the country.