Strike: Federal Govt, ASUU To Resume Talks February 28 – Ngige

Federal Govt, ASUU To Resume Talks February 28 - Ngige

Ngige has said that the Federal Government and ASUU is set to resume talks on February 28 over strike.

The Federal Government has said it will resume talks with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on February 28.

It hoped the university teachers would call off their one-month warning strike afterwards.

Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige announced this yesterday while addressing reporters at the end of a marathon meeting between the government’s side and ASUU in Abuja.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the union had embarked on a nationwide warning strike to press home its members’ demands from February 14.

The lecturers’ demands include funding of the Revitalisation of Public Universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.

Others are: the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

Ngige maintained that the ongoing warning strike is illegal because the demands of the union were already being addressed since last year.

The minister said the strike was a clear breach of the law, adding that the union did not go through the normal process before embarking on the action.

“ASUU did not give the Federal Government the minimum 14 days strike notice prescribed by the law, prior to the strike.

“I saw their letter in my office on February 18, which is last Friday, and as you know, they started their action on Monday, February 14. So, it is a clear breach of labour laws. There are violations.

“If you must notify us of an intending strike action, you give us a minimum of 14 days’ notice. I pointed it out to them that we are a country guided by laws. Nobody is above the law. They should obey it,” he said.

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