The Nigeria Labour Congress has given the Federal Government four weeks to conclude negotiations with all tertiary institutions-based unions.
NLC President, Joe Ajaero stated this in Abuja on Tuesday.
The Labour condemned the no-work-no-pay policy the FG has introduced against members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities currently on a two-week warning strike nationwide. strike.
Ajaero said “we have decided to give the Federal Government four weeks to conclude all negotiations in this sector. They have started talks with ASUU but the problem in this sector goes beyond ASUU.
“That is why we are extending this to four weeks. If after four weeks this negotiation is not concluded, the organs of the NEC will meet and take a nationwide action that all workers in the country, all unions in the country will be involved so that we get to the root of all this.
“The era of signing agreements, negotiations and threatening the unions involved, that era has come to an end.
“The policy, the so-called policy of no work, no pay, will henceforth be no pay, no work. You can’t benefit from an action you instigated. We have discovered that most, 90% of strike actions in this country are caused by failure to obey agreements.”
The NLC expressed its full support for the ASUU and other tertiary education unions, calling for robust participation from all union leaders.
The emergency meeting would decide the next steps for industrial action and explore means to safeguard the welfare of university staff, as well as the quality and continuity of public tertiary education in Nigeria.
It would be recalled that ASUU members on Sunday began the two-week warning strike on Monday last week, after the expiry of a 14-day ultimatum it gave the FG on September 28.
The union listed unresolved to include staff welfare, infrastructure, salary arrears, and the implementation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement.
Negotiations had since then been going without end. Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said two weeks ago that talks had reached a final phase, adding that the government had released N50 billion for earned academic allowances and allocated N150bn in the 2025 budget for a needs assessment to be disbursed in three instalments.
However, ASUU turned down the offer, saying the amount was not enough.
The ASUU is demanding full implementation of the 2009 agreement, release of three-and-a-half months of withheld salaries, sustainable funding for universities, protection against victimisation, payment of outstanding promotion and salary arrears, and release of withheld deductions for cooperatives and union contributions.
