The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has asked the Federal Government to pay the salary arrears of lecturers or risk abandonment of backlogs of academic activities prompted by its eight months strike.
The union argued that the no-work, no-pay policy should not apply to members of ASUU because they are currently doing the work they ought to have done during the period of the strike, clearing the backlog in a combined two sessions.
The university teachers made their stand known during a special congress and protest rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital on Tuesday.
ASUU members, University of Port Harcourt chapter, protested the half-salary payment immediately after their congress.
The lecturers marched along Delta Campus to the school Senate building in Abuja Campus with placards that read, “No to pro rata salary payment; Lecturers are not casual workers; FG, stop maltreatment lecturers.”
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Chairman of ASUU, Uniport branch, Dr. Uzoma Darlington Chima, while speaking to the press said the congress and protest were intended to express their displeasure with an attempt by Federal Government to reduce lecturers to daily paid casual workers.
He said: “Today’s protest rally is to express our dissatisfaction with the recent attempt by the Federal Government to reduce university lecturers to casual workers because we know that there is nowhere in the world where university lecturers are treated as casual workers.
“So, today we invited parents, and students to let them know the state of things since after the suspension of our strike.
“Since we suspended the strike following the National Industrial Court order, we have come back to resume our duties and we are currently doing the backlogs of work that we should have done during the period of the strike. And we have argued as a union of intellectuals that the nature of our job makes the no-work, no-pay policy not applicable to us.”
Source: Guardian