ASUU STRIKE: NLC Mobilises Workers For Nationwide Protest July 26, 27

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has directed its state councils to mobilise for a nationwide protest next Tuesday and Wednesday over the continued closure of public universities.

The Congress said this in a circular dated July 15 and addressed to the Chairpersons and Secretaries of its state councils by President of NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and General Secretary, Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja.

According to the NLC, the protest is aimed at pressurising the Federal Government to conclude negotiations with the striking universities unions and ensure that public universities resume for normal activities.

The statement reads: “In line with the decision of the National Executive Council, NEC meeting of the Nigerian Labour Congress held on 30th of June 2022, we have scheduled the National Days of Protest to get our children back to school and support our unions in Nigerians public universities fighting for quality education.

“You are requested to immediately convene the meetings of your SAC to disseminate this information and to fully mobilise workers in the states for this very important protest for good governance.”

The NLC, in an earlier statement on Sunday, faulted the Federal Government for rejecting the draft report of the renegotiated 2009 by the Nimi-Briggs Committee on the grounds of the figures recommended for professors in the university system.

The statement said: “The Nigeria Labour Congress is concerned about reports widely disseminated by the media both online and traditional positing that the Federal Government may have rejected its own Nimi-Briggs Committee on the premise of alleged disparity between the pay rise allocated to university teaching staff and the non-teaching staff.

“First, we wish to posit that the purpose for setting up the Nimi Briggs Committee was to conform with the fundamental principles of the rights of trade unions to collective bargaining as guaranteed by ILO Convention Number 98 which Nigeria has ratified.

“Second, we wish to point out that one of the cardinal principles of collective bargaining is the Principle of Negotiation in Good Faith. Elements of this principle include conducting genuine and constructive negotiations, making every effort to reach an agreement, avoiding unjustified delays and complying with the agreements when they are signed by the negotiating parties.

“Since the Federal Government decided to set up the Nimi-briggs Committee to make recommendations on the review of the salaries of workers in Nigeria’s university, the negotiating unions and the Nigeria Labour Congress have been kept in the dark on the report of the Committee. It is, therefore, a shocker for us to read from the media snippets of a report of what is strictly the product of a negotiation between the Federal Government Committee and the concerned trade unions.

“Our first response is to aver that this development gravely betrays and undermines the principle of negotiation in good faith as it manifests crass disrespect by government for trade unions in Nigeria’s universities. Second, the circumstances surrounding the work of the Nimi-Briggs Committee also portrays the disposition of government as mortally unserious unfortunately in such a grievous matter as the locking up of public universities for nearly five months.

“Nigerians would recall that the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Federal Government and the union in the tertiary institutions had expired long before now. Given the free fall of Nigeria’s currency, the Naira, and its continuous devaluation, the need for the review of the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement is public knowledge. As it stands today, the highest earning university Professor and staff earns less than $800 as take-home pay. This is indeed very ridiculous and is a major factor to the high rate of brain drain in our system making us unable to retain our best brains.

“It could be recalled that a tripartite plus meeting was convened by the Federal Government on 12th May 2022 at the instance of the Nigeria Labour Congress and well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the crises in our tertiary institutions. The Federal Government team which consists of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment and other top government officials and was led by the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. Also in attendance at the meeting were the leaders of the two major faiths in Nigeria: His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In attendance also were all the trade unions in the education sector, Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Trade Union Congress.

“Negotiations were held and the meeting was adjourned for three weeks to allow the Nimi-Briggs Committee to turn in their report and also to allow NITDA to subject all the proposed payment platforms to integrity test including IPPIS. The committee was asked to conclude its work and report back to the negotiation meeting.

“It was the Federal Government, at the Tripartite Plus negotiation meeting, that requested that the meeting be adjourned for three weeks to enable the Briggs Committee to submit their report and for an integrity test to be conducted on the payment platform proposed by the trade unions. How can the government now turn around to blame the unions for the work of a committee they appointed? This was the same way the last committee report on this matter was aborted.”

The NLC therefore urged the Federal Government to immediately conclude the ongoing negotiation with trade unions in Nigeria’s universities and be prepared to commence implementation of whatever Collective Bargaining Agreement arising therefrom so that public universities in Nigeria can resume normal activities.

The Congress also urged the government to immediately pay the salaries of striking university workers which had been frozen on the premise of “no work-no pay” policy especially as recommended by the leaders of Nigeria’s two major faiths.

“We demand that the Federal Government meets these demands in line with the resolutions of the statutory organs of the Congress.

“All the decisions of the NEC have been activated accordingly with a circular to affiliates and state councils of Nigeria Labour Congress,” the statement added.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASU called out its members on a one-month strike on February 14, 2022 over the non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the Federal Government and the insistence of the government on the adoption of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) as payment platform for all federal workers.

The union proposed UTAS as an alternative platform for the payment of salaries for its members following discrepancies highlighted in the use of IPPIS.

It declared a two-month strike on March 14.

The teachers are on the three-month strike declared by ASUU after the expiration of the two-month warning strike.

Both parties are yet to find a common ground despite repeated assurance by Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige that the strike would soon be over.