SSANU, NASU fix pre-strike protest over withheld salaries

The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) say they will be protesting their four-month salaries withheld by the government.

The unions asked their branches in universities to go on an individual protest on July 9 ahead of a joint protest to follow on July 18.

In a resolution seen by TheCable on Friday, the joint action committee (JAC) of NASU and SSANU said a strike would come thereafter.

Both unions are demanding the release of the four-month salaries of their members withheld during an eight-month strike in 2022.

The salaries of university staff who embarked on the strike were withheld by the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.

In October 2023, President Bola Tinubu approved the release of four months of the withheld salaries of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Left out in the payments, SSANU and NASU alleged unfair treatment and discrimination against non-academic staff by the government.

The unions have since been at loggerheads with the federal government, initiating talks with the education and labour ministries.

The JAC, after a meeting, said its engagement with the education and labour ministers “has not shown any convincing commitment to the payment of the withheld salaries”.

SSANU and NASU ordered a series of industrial actions including a general meeting on July 8 to inform its members of the government’s “insensitivity”, the two protests, and another meeting to determine if an indefinite strike is to follow based on the response.