PAY OUR FULL SALARY OR WE ABANDON BACKLOG OF ACADEMIC SCHEDULE, ASUU TELLS FG

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has told the Federal Government that if it insists on a no-work, no-pay policy, lecturers would abandon backlogs of academic activities caused by its over seven months strike.

The union argued that the policy should not apply to them because they had picked up from where they left seven months ago, stressing that they were clearing the backlogs of work in a combined two sessions.

The union made the demands during a special congress and protest rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers state yesterday.

The lecturers, mainly from the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport), after emerging from the congress, protested the half-salary payment.

They marched along Delta Campus to the school Senate building in Abuja Campus with placards reading: “No to pro rata salary payment; Lecturers are not casual workers; FG, stop maltreatment lecturers.”

Speaking to journalists, the Chairman of ASUU, Uniport branch, Dr. Uzoma Darlington Chima, said the congress and protest were meant to express their dissatisfaction with an attempt by Federal Government to reduce them to “daily paid casual” workers.

He said: “Today’s protest rally is to express our dissatisfaction with the recent attempt by the Federal Government to reduce university lecturers to casual workers because we know that there is nowhere in the world where university lecturers are treated as casual workers.

“So, today we invited parents, and students to let them know the state of things since after the suspension of our strike.

“Since we suspended the strike following the National Industrial Court order, we have come back to resume our duties and we are currently doing the backlogs of work that we should have done during the period of the strike. And we have argued as a union of intellectuals that the nature of our job makes the no-work, no-pay policy not applicable to us.”

Uzoma stated that if the Federal Government refuses to grant their demand, the Union will abandon the backlog of work and begin with the new academic session.