OAUSTECH staff unions protest non-payment of minimum wage

Academic activities were grounded on Tuesday at the Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, Ondo state, after a protest by staff unions over the non-implementation of minimum wage and wage awards.

According to NAN, the unions involved in the protest were the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Unions and Allied Educational Institutions (NASU), and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

Members of the unions locked the main entrance to the university and caused a gridlock on the Okitipupa-Igbokoda expressway.

They carried placards with various inscriptions like “We are workers, not slaves”, “No discrimination in wage award payment”, “We have not been paid minimum wage since 2019”, and “Ayedatiwa, release our subvention”.

Speaking during the protest, Temidayo Temola, chairman of the joint action congress (JAC) of the unions, said it was an injustice for tthe Ondo government not to implement the minimum wage of N30,000 since 2019.

He added that the payment of the wage award of N35,000 has also been discriminatory.

He said university workers in the state were not paid while the institution’s subvention was drastically reduced and delayed.

Temola added that the unions had made several calls to the state government to implement the minimum wage without success.

“Subsidy removal affected all of us; we go to the same market, board the same buses and face the same hardship; so why the discrimination in wage award payment by not including university workers,” Temola said.

“We are university workers and not slaves on our land, so we call on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa to intervene on these issues as a matter of urgency.

“We will shut down all state universities if we continue to be discriminated against; we will continue and not stop the protest until all our demands are met.”