NASU, SSANU deny receiving withheld salaries
Negotiation skills of the labour movement have progressively been on the decline in the last couple of years, a past president of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Adams Oshiomhole, has said.
Speaking yesterday at the 8th National Delegates Conference of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) in Abuja, the Edo State ex-governor submitted that organised labour had departed from established norm, where the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC took all decisions during crucial national issues.
He also castigated the movement for capitulating during nationwide strikes. His words: “During my time, the NEC was the one that was taking all the decisions and not the President. The NEC will only mandate the President to carry out its decisions. During one of the negotiations with the then Obasanjo government, NEC directed me to negotiate on their behalf, saying they trusted me, but I rejected that.”
On the living wage and why NLC must lead the charge for the institutionalisation of an enduring national wage system, Oshiomhole insisted that labour must find a way to tie the national wage to inflation, noting: “I am unapologetic to the idea that workers must earn a living wage. Every time inflation goes up, every sector of the economy feels the impact. So, why would workers be subjected to stagnated wages?”
Meanwhile, General Secretary of NASU, Peters Adeyemi, and National President of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Mohammed Haruna, have both confirmed non-receipt of the four-month withheld salaries over last year’s national strike of 2022.
NASU President, Hassan Makolo, in his address, said the 36 state governors and FCT Minister were the greatest beneficiaries of the fuel subsidy removal, maintaining that the decision has continued to push more Nigerians into extreme poverty.
To tackle the menace at the sub-national level, he appealed to state governments to replicate the wage award being implemented by the Federal Government at the national level.
