Industrial unrest looms in varsities

*As NASU, SSANU, NAAT threaten strike

By Victor Ahiuma-Young

ABUJA— INDICATIONS emerged yesterday that members of the Non-Academic Staff of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), and their National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) counterpart, may resume their suspended strike today over inability to reach agreement with government.

The trio, had three weeks ago suspended their industrial action  along with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which shut down academic activities and operations at the nation’s public universities,

This latest development has raised fears of another disruption of academic activities in the ivory towers less than three weeks that students returned to campuses.

General Secretary of NASU, Comrade Peters Adeyemi, told Vanguard that there are indication that members and the other two unions could resume the suspended strike today.

He blamed the development on the inability to reach agreement with government and reiterated the union’s argument that the issue  was not all about emoluments, but  about the funding of the university system, failing and decaying infrastructure.

Some of the contentious issues before the two weeks suspension of the strike, Comrade Adeyemi told Vanguard were “ What are the reasons for the award of 20 percent wage increase to us, 20 percent increase to another and 40 percent to another of our colleagues? If they are telling us that our members are essentially junior staff, which is not true, because the registrars, bursars and the rest all not junior staff.