The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities has expressed concern over the exclusion of its members from the 40% salary increase for the country’s civil officials as Nigeria joins the rest of the globe in commemorating International Workers’ Day in 2023.
The union also criticized the government for failing to pay its members’ salaries that were held back during the four-month strike they took part in in 2022.
Every year on May 1, Labor Day, also known as International Workers’ Day, is observed to honor the global working class. In many nations, it is observed as a national public holiday. The origins of Labour Day may be traced back to 1886, when a labor union in the United States went on strike in support of the principle that employees should not be permitted to work more than eight hours per day.
Workers were committed to positively contribute to the “building of a great country,” according to Muhammed Ibrahim, national president of SSANU and national internal auditor for the Nigeria Labour Congress, in a message of goodwill to mark the celebrations.
Speaking in the statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Ibrahim said, “Our members have continued to report for duty in the most security-challenging parts of Nigeria.
“It’s a pity that the federal government has remained adamant in the payment of withheld four months salaries during the nationwide strike in 2022. Comrades, you are all aware that SSANU complied with all industrial legal protocol before embarking on strike when government reneged on its part of the bargain. We have made every efforts for government to see reason why we should be paid our rightful due all to no avail. We are once again calling on the government to urgently pay the withheld salaries without further delay. The insensitivity of the government to the plight of workers is provocative and unbearable.
“Comrades, you are also aware that since we suspended the strike last year, the issue of re-negotiation of the 2009 Agreement has not yielded any result. It appears the federal government does not like the industrial harmony in the universities. We are calling on the government to without any delay ensure that the renegotiation is urgently concluded and implemented.
“On the 40 per cent pay rise, it is unfathomable why some workers have started receiving their payment, our members are yet to receive theirs. We call on the government to ensure that our members receive their own payment as soon as possible if not, we can no longer guarantee industrial harmony in the universities.
“We should also place it on record that the N50 billion Earned Allowances which the government promised last year is yet to be paid. We are using this opportunity to tell the government to release is as quickly as possible as further delay will not be helpful to the system.”