UNIZIK SSANU threatens strike over unpaid N30 billion allowances, salaries, others

THE Nnamdi Azikwe University Chapter of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has threatened to embark on an indefinite strike to demand release of N30b being part payment of earned allowances owed its members.

Its Non-Academic Union of Allied and Education Institutions (NASU) counterparts are also being owed outstanding earned allowances from 2009 to 2015.

Eastern Zonal Executive member of SSANU, Njideka Nwangwu, in an interview with The Guardian, yesterday, urged the Federal Government to address inconsistencies in the implementation of Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPIS) in the payment of SSANU members’ salaries.

She asked government to resolve the non-implementation and withdrawal of allowances agreed upon in 2009 and non-payment of arrears of earned allowances being owed SSANU and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members.

Nwangwu also said the Federal Government should resolve non-implementation of new minimum wage, which took effect from April 2019 and accused government of failure to pay earned allowances of non-teaching staff from 2009 to 2012 and from 2013 to date.

“In 2019, the Federal Government distorted the payment of N23b released for the earned allowances in favour of ASUU members, while leaving only 11 per cent to SSANU and NASU staff,” she added.

She argued that the 2009 agreements between the Federal Government and the unions had not been re-negotiated, which means they were still in force as at 2009.

“The implication now is that the prices of goods in the market have increased since 2009 and this is 2020,” she lamented.

Nwangwu stressed that the strike, which would commence as soon as schools resume, was also predicated on the need to rectify inconsistencies in salary payment and implementation of IPPIS at the institution.

She also pointed out that SSANU considered the strike option due to irregular payment, non-payment, shortfall and delay of salaries outside the usual payment between 24 and 28th of every month and condemned salary payment after two or three weeks into the new month.

She, however, maintained that the university has continued to meet payment of monthly salaries between 24 and 28 of every month, lamenting that salaries of members were now being paid on the second or third week of the following month.

The SSANU boss accused the federal authorities of misrepresenting and misinterpreting extant documents of statutory deductions as regards staff members’ salaries in the university system, stressing, “The system is also replete with irregular deductions, non-remittance of third party deductions like check-off dues and contributions to cooperatives, among others.”