On Tuesday, striking union members at the University of Lagos sang solidarity songs around the campus, vowing to sustain their actions and achieve the desired results.

They gave the position as the seven-day national warning strike declared by the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) entered its second day.

The strike is in protest of the federal government’s non-compliance to demands for payment of four months’ withheld salaries of their members, after the 2022 nationwide strike.

The decision was part of the resolutions of the two unions’ Joint Action Committee (JAC) after a meeting held in Akure last week.

SSANU president Mohammed Ibrahim said the decision to embark on the warning strike was taken as a last resort.

He said it came after several protest letters and other communications with the Federal Government did not yield any positive outcome.

On Tuesday, at UNILAG, NASU-UNILAG was seen singing and going around the school to monitor members’ compliance with the warning strike.

Olugbenga Adenaiya, Acting Chairman of SSANU, UNILAG chapter, said the association would continue to stand for equity and fairness.

According to him, all unions are after equal treatment and fairness to all parties. 

He explained that there was no going back in ensuring that union members were given their due recognition, in line with what is given to other labour unions of university members.

Kehinde Ajibade, ex-chairman of NASU in the institution, described the level of compliance as highly commendable.

Mr Ajibade said the only thing the government seemed to understand was the strike, so the chapter had to comply to get their demands. He noted that the union would stop at nothing to ensure sustained compliance with the warning strike.

“Prior to this time, we had the issue of the 2009 agreement we entered with the Federal Government, which is long overdue and still lingering. We also have the issue of wage awards and unpaid earned allowances. Now, we are faced with four months of withheld salaries, which our sister union (ASUU) has been paying since four weeks ago, and we are yet to get a dime.

“This injustice against members is unacceptable. We are told the government will meet with our national leaders tomorrow. We remain optimistic that something positive will come out of it,” the unionist stated.

Olusola Sowunmi, former chairman of SSANU-UNILAG, said the warning strike was purely for non-teaching staff, SSANU and the National Association of Academic Technologists.

He said the striking workers were not breaking down the system only because the students were writing their examinations.

(NAN)