Meet Our Demands, LASU Workers Appeal To Sanwo-Olu Amid Industrial Strike
By Adegunle Olugbamila
LAGOS DECEMBER 12TH (NEWSRANGERS)-Workers at the Lagos State University (LASU), have called on the Lagos State Govenor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to kindly intervene in the ongoing industrial crisis between the unions and management before the situation degenerated further.
The workers under LASU Joint Action Commitee, (JAC), said it was left with no other choice than to embark on strike action as their members are suffering while their take home pay could barely sustain them amid the prevailing economic hardship.
It would be recalled that workers under the aegis of Lagos State University – Joint Action Commitee (LASU-JAC) embarked on industrial action on Friday last week. The university workers are demanding, among others, the implementation of a new harmonised salary structure effective December 2024, which must be harmonised with other tertiary in the state; the implementation of 25/35% salary increment of members effective from December 2024, and based on the new harmonised salary structure; as well as inclusion of JAC of all Lagos state-owned tertiary institutions in the negotiations in deciding modalities for the implementation of the aforementioned.
The workers announced this in a statement signed by chairmen and secretaries of all the unions including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Prof Ibrahim Bakare and Dr O, Idowu; Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) Comrade Oluwaseyi Lawal and Waheed Majekodunmi; Non Academic Staff of Universities and Allied Institutions, Obafemi Sanni and Muhammed Kelani, as well as National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) Dr Olujimi Adejo and Adewunmi Fadiora, respectively.
Addressing the media at the university premises yesterday, Prof Bakare who represented ASUU, said the unions which have not embarked on industrial strike for nearly a decade now have always believed in the principle of collective bargaining and consensus building. Against this backdrop, Bakare said the unions had written several letters to the Office of the Governor, Offfice of the Commissioner for Tertiary Education and other relevant arms of government which resulted in the establishment of two committees set up by the Government to look into their agitations.
Nonetheless, Bakare lamented that since the commitees have submitted their reports, not much has been heard from government, despite JAC’s staunch belief in Governor Sanwo-Olu to do the neeedful.
He said: “We have taken urgent steps by submitting our letters to the relevant authorithies in the state. We do not want to appear as if we are leaking confidential information. However, we are appealing to the governor to put smiles on the face of our members. We do not want our LASU to go down, hence urgent appeal for governor’s intervention.?
Going down memory lane, Chairman of NAAT Dr Adejo said the unions invited LASU management to all committees it set up before they eventually presented a position paper to the state government.
Further, he said the prevailing economic hardship has led to many of their members becoming poorers as they could hardly afford transport fare to work.
“It has become practically impossible for our members commuting to work to and from everyday,” Adejo lamented.
“For instance, many of our members who live in LASU Quarters in Badagry used to spend about one thousand naira to and fro. But now, they spend an evrage of three thousand naira everyday, despite not feeding well while at work.
” Truth is, the moment you cannot meet up with your responsibility at work and home, you automatically become depressed.”
Similarly, chairman of NASU Sanni lamented how the governor promised all civil servants in the state a 20% raise in their salaries before the election, only for him to shortchange them by paying the said amount to other cadres of civil servants while marginalising university workers.
Chairman of NAAT Comrade Lawal noted that enough was enough, as workers could not continue to sacrifice members’ interest on the alter of the university.
“We have exhausted every means available to resolve this matter. We believe that our governor has listening ears and would do the needful. Nevertheless, in case government failed to yield ground after this briefing, we have other strategies we have mappped out which we do not wish to disclose here.”
Meanwhile Prof Bakare earlier corrected the misconceptions that the unions did not carry the students along in their agitation.
“We are not against students’ welfare and their well being. We have always carried them along in all we do. This time however, we also need to let them realise this strike is also for them. We want to have the welfare of our members improved so they can give their best to their responsibilities. We also want to have a more conducive atmosphere to teach and research. All this will have a positive effect on our students performances,” he concluded.
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Posted by News Rangers
on Dec 12 2024. Filed under National.
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