Withheld Salaries: Stop treating us like ASUU, we never went on strike — CONUA tells Tinubu

The academic union, a breakaway from theAcademic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), asked the government to stop lumping up its members’ issues with those of ASUU members, saying its members had consistently denied being on strike while the ASUU strike lasted in 2022.

The latest position is contained in a statement issued by CONUA and signed by its National President, ‘Niyi Sunmonu, who commended President Bola Tinubu for paying four months from the almost eight months’ withheld salaries of universities’ academic staff.

Dated Thursday, 29 February 2024, and titled: “State of the Nation, Payment of Four Months out of Seven and a Half Months’ Withheld Salaries, Stagnation of Remuneration of Academics, and Call for Negotiations,” CONUA urged the President to speed up his efforts and interventions aimed at repositioning the country for good and to address the pains of the poor due to economic hardship.

The statement reads in part: “Our Union, CONUA, has consistently maintained that it never declared and was not part of any strike action.

“Since CONUA neither called for nor joined any strike, withholding the three and a half months salaries of members of the union contravenes Section 43 (1b) of the Trade Disputes Act CAP. T8, which states that “where any employer locks out his workers, the workers shall be entitled to wages and any other applicable remunerations 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”. This provision is consistent with global best practices. In conclusion on this, CONUA demands that the process of paying these outstanding months be kick-started immediately to ensure lasting peace in our ivory towers.”

Withheld Salaries

In 2022, the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy and withheld the workers’ salaries during the eight-month strike.

The workers’ unions that had their members’ salaries withheld at the time include ASUU and CONUA.

Others are; Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

Selective Payments

However, in October, Mr Tinubu announced that his government would pay four of the withheld salaries to members of ASUU, immediately raising concerns as to the fate of the members of the other unions.

Last week, the Nigerian government began paying the academics —ASUU and CONUA— leaving out the non-academic staff.

On Friday, SSANU and NASU released a joint statement threatening to strike should the government fail to do the same for its members.

Pay remaining months —CONUA

CONUA appreciated Mr Tinubu’s payment of four of the seven-and-a-half months withheld salaries. It, however, asked the government to pay its members the remaining three and half months, claiming they never embarked on strike.