The Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has described the non-payment of its members’ March to September salaries and part of its October salary as illegal.
CONUA said its members were only unable to perform their full duties because of the lock-out by the university management and not because it was on strike.
The union, therefore, called on the Nigerian Government to pay the withheld salaries of its members, insisting they were never on strike.
At the end of October, the Nigerian government paid alleged ‘mutilated’ salaries to academics in public universities.
It said the lecturers were paid for the work done, having suspended its eight months old strike only on 14th October. But the lecturers have kicked against this, describing the decision as insulting.
While CONUA said it has submitted a petition against the stoppage of its members’ salaries, the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is set to meet on Monday (today) to decide on the next line of action.
Pay our members – CONUA
In a statement by its National President, ‘Niyi Sunmonu, CONUA said it had at several times clarified that its members were not a party to the strike declared by ASUU.
“We first made this fact clear in a letter we addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment in April 2022. And, at a press conference we addressed in Abuja on August 19, 2022, we also stated it categorically that, as a union, we were not on strike, and, this being the case, the issue of no work no pay ought not to apply to our members,” the statement reads in part.
CONUA said it considers it unfair that its members were not paid the salaries for March to September as well as the cutoff part of the October salaries.
It described as illegal the government’s decision not to pay its member’ seven months salaries and part of the October salaries.
CONUA said its members could not perform their full function due to the closure of the universities and not because of a strike.
It added that the government’s actions contradict Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act, which clarified that workers are entitled to their wages when locked out by employers.
It said: “Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, stated, “where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remuneration 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 the period of employment”.
“We expect the government to act on the demand immediately,” it added.
CONUA, therefore, asked the government to immediately pay “the backlog of our salaries from March to September 2022, in addition to what was cut off from our October 2022 salaries. We expect the government to act on this rightful demand immediately.”
The government recently granted the registration of CONUA and the National Association of Medical and Dental Academics (NAMDA). The government paid members of the Medical and Dental Consultants Association of some universities including the Usmanu Danfodiyo University, (UDU) Sokoto, saying they continued working during the period of the strike.
But ASUU-UDUS accused the government of sowing disharmony among members of the union for the ‘selective’ payments to the lecturers.
