Salaam revealed that the decision to embark on the strike was taken after a resolution at the union's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which was held two weeks ago.
The Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN) has declared its support for the seven-day nationwide strike embarked on by the non-teaching staff members of Nigerian public universities under the aegis of the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
SaharaReporters had reported that SSANU and NASU on Monday began a one-week strike over alleged unfair treatment and disparity in the payment of their salaries by the Nigerian Government.
SaharaReporters had also reported how the vice president of the association, Dr Abdussobuur Salaam disclosed that they would soon embark on a warning strike during a telephone conversation with SaharaReporters last Monday.
Salaam revealed that the decision to embark on the strike was taken after a resolution at the union's National Executive Council (NEC) meeting which was held two weeks ago.
He emphasised that no government representative had contacted the non-academic unions and that while some had done so unofficially, their assurances could not be relied upon, and questioned why some government officials would not completely comply with President Bola Tinubu's directive to settle 2022 arrears.
He noted that after sending a seven-day warning, the Minister of Labour, Nkiruka Onyejeocha, had not contacted the disgruntled unions.
Reacting to the SSANU and NASU industrial action, WYSN in a statement issued on Wednesday by its National Organiser, Dimeji Macaulay, called on the President Bola Tinubu-led Nigerian government to immediately meet the demands of the union.
The group also called for a united struggle of academic and non-academic workers against student loans and other “anti-worker policies” of the Nigerian government, saying that the government was engaging in a “deliberate neglect” of the non-academic workers in the universities and could be seen as another divide-and-rule tactic.
The statement read, “The Workers and Youths backs the 7-day nationwide strike action of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).
“This protest is a result of the irresponsiveness of the Tinubu-led Federal Government who, after the payment of 4/7 of the withheld salaries of the Academic workers, refused to make commitments for the non-academic workers.
“We agree that this is a deliberate neglect of the non-academic workers in the Universities and could be seen as another divide-and-rule tactic of the Tinubu-led FG. Hence, we support, in totality, the 7-day industrial action and call on the non-academic workers to start mobilizing for a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike backed up with protest actions if the deliberate neglect continues.
“We can recall that the Buhari government met the genuine demands of both the academic and non-academic workers with an inhumane no–work–no–pay policy in 2022.
“These unions were demanding better living conditions for their members and improved funding of public education.
“The no–work–no–pay policy of the government resulted in 7 and a half months without pay for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and 5 months without pay for NASU and SSANU members.
“While we acknowledge that the Tinubu-led FG has bowed to pressure and agreed to tentatively pay ASUU members 4 months' salary arrears, the fact that the other unions were left behind is a surprise to us at WYSN and must be resisted.
“We are aware of the statement of the ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, that mechanisms of negotiation of the unions are different, yet, we believe that a genuine government that is ready to correct the mistakes of her predecessor will make commitments across all the unions affected by the Buhari’s administration anti-workers policy.
“To this extent, we salute the tenacity of the NASU and SSANU members, organized under the Joint Action Committee (JAC) to reject this impunity.
“We call on the Tinubu-led federal government to immediately accede to the demands of these unions and make commitments to avoid disruptions to the academic calendars.
“We also call on the ASUU not to segregate themselves from the struggle but see it as an opportunity to raise, once again, the fundamental issues facing the Nigerian educational sector, particularly the students’ loan policy.
“As we have clearly stated from the onset, the students’ loan policy is not an ideal solution to the crisis in the education sector and will only lure innocent Nigerian youths into an endless pit of debt even before their employability period.”
The group noted that “The unions should instead demand study grants, instead of students’ loans. Similarly, the struggle should be linked to the total reversal of all hiked fees, proper funding of the education sector and an end to education commercialization.
“We also read about the press statement issued by the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in solidarity with the NASU and SSANU.”
According to WYSN, “The NLC president, Joe Ajaero, quoted that “there had been no credible reason or explanation for withholding those salaries in the first place” and calls for more solidarity from the civil society and other unions to be able to force the government to meet the demands of the two unions.
“It is very clear that the emergence of Tinubu as the president will not resolve any of the fundamental problems facing the workers and youths of the country.
“As we have seen in the past few months, things have gone from bad to worse for the common people.
“This is why we will continue to call on the Labour leaders to form a mass workers’ political alternative to enthrone a working people’s government armed with socialist ideas. If this plan is to work, the Academic, Non-Academic and Senior Staff Unions have a pivotal role to play.
“We of WYSN are ready to join and participate fully in the emergence of a genuine workers’ alternative party that will utilize our collective natural resources to fund education and other sectors.”