UNIVERSITY STAFF THREATENS TO SHUT DOWN STATE-OWNED UNIVERSITY OVER UNPAID N4.6 BILLION SALARIES BY THE MANAGEMENT

The non-academic staff of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU) Uli formerly Anambra State University has warned the university management that they will embark on indefinite strike action if their salaries amounting N4.6 billion are not settled on or before Wednesday.

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The university staff who are members of the Joint Action Committee of Trade Unions (JAC) is made up of three associations – Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU).

According to the report, the union who claimed to be owed N4.6 billion salaries had earlier issued several warnings of the strike actions and had also notified the university management and university governing council of the action if they fail to meet their demands after the deadline.

The statement signed by JAC COOU leaders read that the university authorities had remained adamant over meeting their demands even after they had exhausted all possible avenues to avoid the strike action including failed pleas and dialogues and various agreements/Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) not honoured by the university management and university governing council.

The JAC leaders hinted that no positive result has been obtained from several negotiations they had had with the university authorities. The leaders lamented that the working conditions of the university staff keep worsening as the university authorities keep maintaining the stance that they are lacking the funds to pay the university staff.

The N4.6 billion said to be owed the unions by the university management covers Monetization arrears, Promotion arrears, CONTISS and CONUASS arrears, Earned Allowance arrears, Non-Remittance of Contributory Pension Fund Deductions/Non payment of employers (10 per cent) portion of the fund, PAYE deductions and remittance, Non-remittance of National Housing Fund Contributions and Non-remittance of union dues/levies after deduction.