December 12, 2011

News By Victor Ahiuma-Young ABUJA- IN a move to prevent the
non-academic staff in the nation’s
universities from joining the ongoing
strike by the academic staff, the
Federal Government has directed
vice-chancellors to stop retrenching non-academic staff of universities at
the age of 60 pending passage of the
bill by the National Assembly and
assent by the President. National Association of Academic
Technologists, NAAT; Non-Academic
Staff Union of Education and
Associated Institutions, NASU, and
Senior Staff Association of Nigerian
Universities, SSANU, under the Joint Action Committee of the three
unions, were set to begin an
indefinite strike over failure by the
Federal Government to implement
the 2009 agreement. The contending issues in the
agreement are the 65 years
retirement age, improvement in the
funding level of universities, earned
allowance, and career structure for
technologists on CONTISS 14 and 15. After meeting with the Minister of
Education, Prof. Ruqayyah Ahmed-
Rufa’i and the Minister of Labour,
Chief Emeka Wogu, SSANU President,
Mr. Samson Ugwoke, said, yesterday,
that the ministers showed the three unions evidence that the issues
would be resolved soonest and that
the government was doing
everything to ensure accelerated
passage of the bill on the 65-year
retirement age and other related issues. He added that the ministers told the
union leaders that vice-chancellors of
universities had been informed by
the government not to “retire any
members of the unions who clocks
60 years or have served for 35 years, pending when the issues will be
finally resolved.” Ugwoke said the ministers equally
told the labour leaders to “report any
vice-chancellor that disregard this
order.” He added that the ministers had
assured that the earned allowance
would be captured in the 2012
annual budget, while other issues
were being resolved. Ugwoke said: “As a result of
discussions held and appeals made
by the two ministers to allow the
Federal Government a little more
time to implement the 2009
agreement it entered with our three unions, we have resolved to grant a
grace of 30 days (one month)
beginning from December 9 within
which the contending issues raised
would be fully resolved and
implemented. “If they fail we shall resume our
suspended strike action without
notice.”