By Faith Igbudu
Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Benue State University (BSU) chapter says the non payment of 49 months arrears of earned allowance is one of the grievances of the union that necessitated her strike action.
Chairman NASU BSU chapter, Emmanuel Geri, who spoke to The Voice about the strike confirmed the action. He said the union had suspended the strike with hope for negotiations which till date has yielded no fruit.
He said the strike is only a continuation of the union’s action that was suspended in February 2021.
“We embarked on strike to press home for the arrears of earned allowances which overtime has accumulated. Presently, the arrears stands at 49 months that the authorities are supposed to pay to our members,” he said.
Other reasons as mentioned by the chairman is the, lack of promotion for members, lack of annual increment and failure of the university management to observe the rules of engagement on employment with her members among others.
“One of the agitations is that from 2017 up to date, staff of the union have not been promoted. This is about four to five years we have not enjoyed promotions.
“Secondly, we embarked on strike to press home for the annual increment of our members. Each year, the government or the management of the university, based on the rules or the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) ensures that there is a step increment on staff salary.
“Thirdly, we went on strike because of wrong placement of our staff from staff school that were moved to the mainstream of the university.
“We also embarked on strike as a result of failure of the management of the university to adhere strictly to the rule book, that is the conditions of service. These and many others are the reasons that made us embark on strike,” he maintained.
The Voice reports that the said strike is in alliance with Senior Staff Association Of Nigerian Universities (SSANU). However, as at the time of this report, SSANU was yet to react or explain it’s side of the story.
The strike is said to be an indefinite one. Its call off will be determined by the negotiations between the two bodies.