ASUU strike: CONUA threatens to sue FG over unpaid salaries

Congress of University Academics (CONUA) has voiced its displeasure with the Federal Government, particularly the Ministry of Labour and Employment, over the failure to pay the withheld salaries of its members.

The union said its members did not call for any industrial action and were not involved in the strike that shut down the university system nationwide for eight months.

It said it was wrong for the Federal Government to treat its members in the same manner as members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who went on an eight-month strike between February and October 2022.

In the statement by its National President, Secretary, and Publicity Secretary, Drs. Niyi Sunmonu, Henry Oripeloye, and Ernest Nwoke, respectively, CONUA said when it noticed the development, it wrote  to the Accountant-General of the Federation and Ministry of Labour and Employment reminding them that it was an error to lump its members with those that declared and embarked on industrial action.

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“It was yet another shock for the outstanding backlog of salaries not to have been paid to our members along with the November 2022 salary,” it said.

The union threatened to sue the Federal Government for withholding its members’ salaries.

“CONUA formally made its non-involvement in the strike known to the Federal Government in a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in April 2022.

“In the letter, we made it clear that because CONUA constituted a separate and independent union in the university system, our members did not call for any strike. This was followed by a press conference in Abuja on August 19, 2022 at which it was categorically stated that CONUA was not part of any ongoing strike, and that the “no work no pay” principle ought not to apply to members of the union.

“CONUA’s expectation is that, due to the express and categorical declaration, the government would seamlessly release our members’ outstanding salaries when it resumed the payment of salaries to all university staff in October 2022. But to our dismay, CONUA members were also paid pro-rata salaries in complete disregard to the fact that we were indeed shut out of duties by the strike.