Business
Unions Vow To Resist Workers’ Sack At NDU
The industrial unions
under the auspices of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Non-Academic Staff of University (NASU) at the Bayelsa State owned Niger Delta Universities (NDU) have vowed to resist any attempted plan to sack workers in the institution.
In a resolution by the unions recently at the university signed by SSANU chairman, Comrade Fakidouma Wilcox, NAAT’s Chairman, Comrade Dienagha Ekepet and NASU Chairman, Comrade Kenneth Akpafegha and made available to The Tide said that the workers would only return to work after the full payment of their four month salaries.
The unions in the statement decried and frown at the state governor’s decision to pay academic and technical workers of the university, while vowing not to pay the senior and junior workers until the university workforce is downsized.
The unions said “bring by the National University Commission (NUC) employment ratio of A.1 in the University is understaffed. Therefore the governor should not think of downsising as his action will be met with a brick wall.
The unions stressed that the strike action will not be suspended that is the sit-at-home order” until at least four months salaries are paid in full, threatening to withdraw the unions members on essential duties after one week, if the government does not comply over the salary payment.
The union said that “they wonder why a government which has been boasting of declaring a state of emergency in the educational sector, should allow the death of the only state university in the state, which has so far turned out over 14, 882 graduates since its inception thereby changing the educational fortunes of the state as an educationally disadvantaged state”.
The Tide learnt that the Bayelsa State governor had recently asked the management of the university to explore other revenue sources to fund itself.
It would be recalled that the university has been closed for two months now following non-payment of about seven months backlogs of salaries of staff.