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Tag: SSANU-LASU

  • SSANU-LASU protest at convocation

    SSANU-LASU protest at convocation

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Lagos State University (SSANU-LASU) chapter, has vowed to disrupt the university’s 19th convocation today, if they do not receive their June and July salary by 9am.

    Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola is expected to inaugurate some projects today in the university.

    Yesterday, members of SSANU-LASU, led by the Chairman, Saheed Oseni, stormed the new auditorium, venue of the convocation for first degree graduates, singing solidarity songs.

    They tried to force their way into the auditorium, but were stopped by the university’s security operatives.

    They blocked the main road with their union vehicle, causing a traffic jam. Appeals by the Registrar, Akinwumi Lewis, who is also a SSANU member, fell on deaf ears.

    The union called off its two-month strike over the non-promotion of some of its members last Friday and expected the management to have paid the two months’ salary arrears of members as earlier agreed by both parties. Speaking to reporters yesterday, Oseni said the union suspected that the management was bent on taking the ‘no work, no pay’ measure on members.

    He said the management was claiming that the ‘no work, no pay’ measure was a directive from government.

    Oseni said: “We are giving the management uptil 9am tomorrow (today) to pay our salary, otherwise, we will disrupt this convocation to the embarrassment of all. We have suspended our strike and we expected that before the convocation today (yesterday), they (management) would have paid our salaries. We are disappointed that nothing was done.

    “We suspect that the management is up to some games, as it has not been specific about our salaries. It is giving us the impression that it is government’s decision and that is why we will stage another protest tomorrow (today) so that Governor Fashola and his aides would tell us if they are the ones holding our salaries or the management.”

    The management said the union’s actions betray the agreement reached.

    Its spokesman, Mr. Sutton, said LASU Governing Council Chairman Mr Olabode Agusto assured SSANU-LASU that its grievances would be addressed at the next council meeting on August 29.

    He said: “We are disappointed that SSANU is now going against the letter written to us suspending the strike because of the convocation and the assurance of the council’s chairman to look into its grievances. In the letter, the union appealed to the council for the payment of members’ June and July salaries and the management is looking into it. The fact that their salaries have not yet been paid does not mean management has gone to bed over it. SSANU’s action amounts to a breach of contract and this is not healthy for the university.”

  • SSANU-LASU threatens to shut down varsity over members outstanding promotions

    SSANU-LASU threatens to shut down varsity over members outstanding promotions

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, Lagos State University (SSANU) Lagos State University chapter, has threatened to shut down the university if the management fails to resolve the lingering outstanding promotion of its members.

    The union, which is seeking promotion of its members for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 sessions respectively, is alleging double standard by the Governing Council in its approach to the union’s ongoing strike action.

    The Nation gathered that discussions between SSANU-LASU and management have been rosy until ASUU-LASU suspended the strike on Monday, with SSANU now hinging its fate on the Council meeting, which was supposed to hold last week Tuesday. The Chairman, SSANU-LASU Comrade Saheed Oseni, had earlier told our reporter that the Council’s decision  would determinate the union’s next line of action. Prior to that, the members had been involved in skeletal services.

    However, the matter took a turn for the worse following the cancellation of the Council meeting. Our reporter gathered that neither the Vice Chancellor, Prof John Obafunwa, nor the Registrar, Akin Lewis, attended the meeting. They were said to have sent representatives, a decision, which The Nation gathered further infuriated the Chairman of Council, Mr Olabode Augusto.

    With the development, SSANU-LASU called a congress where the Registrar,  who is also a SSANU member, reportedly addressed the gathering, saying Council could not address the issues because the Congress representatives of SSANU were not in attendance.

    Oseni said the union smelled a rat, adding that their members, whom the Registrar claimed were not in attendance, called him on phone to intimate him of the VC and Registrar’s absence.

    ”We felt bad and cheated,” Oseni said. Speaking further, he said: “We believe that if there are similar issues affecting every union on campus, all should be treated equally. If the Council attended to ASUU issues, then it behoves on them to attend to SSANU too. What is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander.

    “We suspect the Council is trying to use divide and rule tactics here. But we are giving them till Thursday next week to address our issues; otherwise we will shut down this university. It is going to be a full blown battle. Nobody should marginalize us, because we are as important as ASUU. We are also going to draw the attention of all stakeholders to our cause.”

    LASU PRO, Kayode Sutton, said: “It is true that some members of SSANU scored over 65 (benchmark for promotion) in the 2011/2012 promotional exercise; but Council looked into it and realised the university did not have enough vacancies to fill them in. Besides, Council observed it had no financial muscle to cater for them. So they have been advised to sit for the 2012/2013 exercise.

    “Unfortunately, many of the members did not sit for the exam based on advice from the union leadership, which claimed the 2011/12 promotion was yet to be treated. Those who went and passed have been promoted accordingly. Therefore, Council advised that those who did not make it should sit for the 2013/2014 promotional exercise. Nonetheless, we are urging SSSANU members to resume to work in the interest of all.”

  • SSANU-LASU joins ASUU’s strike

    SSANU-LASU joins ASUU’s strike

    •’No work No Pay,’ says govt

    Six days after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU) chapter declared an indefinite strike, their non-teaching counterpart, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has followed suit.

    Like ASUU, SSANU, which started their indefinite strike last Monday, are protesting the ‘No vacancy, no Promotion’ policy of the university; the hike in school fees that has resulted in a sharp drop in enrolment, and the non-implementation of the 65-year retirement age for non-teaching staff.

    SSANU’s action followed a resolution by the union’s congress last Friday. On Monday, SSANU members also held another congress after which it staged a peaceful protest around the university’s Ojo campus, calling on the management to compel the Lagos State government walk its talk with respect to its agreement with the union in 2010.

    Incidentally, the union’s strike is starting at a time the government has threatened to invoke the ‘no work, no pay’ rule.

    SSANU-LASU chairman, Comrade Oseni Adewale Saheed, however waved the threat.  He said the union had faced more punitive sanctions in the past and is not afraid to maintain its stand.

    “There was a time we went on strike for six months in this university while our salaries were withheld; but we did not die.  This strike will be total! No member of ours will be allowed to work in any office. If the management wants to stop our salary, let them go ahead.

    “No meeting by management should hold in any office manned by our members otherwise we shall disrupt it,” he said.

    On January 13, SSANU suspended its three month-old strike following the intervention of the Special Adviser to the Governor on Education, Otunba Fatai Olukoga.

    He said: “We had a meeting with the committee set up by the state government to look into the matter and resolve it.  But to date this has not been done. Our management also held a meeting with SSANU national executive where it was resolved that all affected staff that were due for promotion should be promoted in accordance with (Governing) Council directive that worker that scored 65 per cent in their Annual Performance and Evaluation Report  (APER), but that has not been done.”

    At the declaration of the ASUU strike on Tuesday last week, its Chairman Dr Adekunle Idris said the union had explored all avenues to get government to implement the agreement to no avail.

    He said when the hike in tuition was introduced in 2011, ASUU decided to study the outcome of the policy, which according to him, has resulted in dwindling enrolment every year.

    Rather than raise tuition fees, ASUU said management should have leveraged on its consultancy services, which he said has not operated for the past two years, to boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).

    Following government’s cold shoulder, Idris said the union approached parents, traditional rulers and other stakeholders in Lagos to prevail on the government to accede to their demands.

    Following the breakdown of talks, ASUU declared a trade dispute on March 24 with 21-day ultimatum, and another 14-day ultimatum which expired on April 29.  All through the ultimatums, Idris noted that neither the government nor the Governing Council responded to letters written to them.

    “We are at a loss as to why the authorities have refused to frontally address these issues for over one year. Of course, rather than dialogue and take steps to reverse the unacceptable trend, the university authority has engaged the use of propaganda, divisive tactics and twisted logic to justify a very bad case,” he said.

  • SSANU-LASU goes on strike over promotion

    SSANU-LASU goes on strike over promotion

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) Lagos State University (LASU) chapter has vowed to continue with the on-going strike by its national body, until the Governing Council reverses the new ‘no vacancy-no-promotion’ measure.

    The chairman SSANU-LASU Oseni Saheed Adewale said the union has resolved to battle the management, saying the latter’s action amounts to injustice against SSANU’s members and a breach on their condition of service.

    The 12-member Council, chaired by Mr Olabode Agusto, was inaugurated last year.

    In the LASU condition of service, a worker between level 6 and 11 is entitled to promotion every three years once the said worker scores 70 per cent and above in his/her Annual Performance Evaluation Report (APAR), except from Level 11 upward which is subject to internal or external advertisement or both.

    However, with the new Council regulation, even if workers make the APAR benchmark, they may not be promoted if there is no vacancy in the position they aspire to attain.

    Oseni said SSANU’s patience has been exhausted over the issue and is left with no choice that to down tools.

    He said the union had tread with caution in joining the national strike last week as the Governing Council had scheduled a meeting with it alongside other unions on Tuesday September 17 and Thursday September 19 to resolve some internal squabbles among the workers. He said at the meeting the council refuse to shift ground on the new measure thereby provoking SSANU’s strike.

    Oseni recalled how the previous Governing Council under Mr Akin Kekere Ekun, introduced written examination, with the subsisting APAR as part of promotional measure.

    “When the council did that, many of our members were initially opposed to it as it was not in the condition of service. But along the line, some members felt we should write the examination to justify the management of our competencies. Since then, written examination has become a part of our promotional procedures,” he said.

    Oseni lamented that many of his colleagues, who scaled the APAR and were due for promotion last year could not be considered based on the new measure, fearing that the number would also double this year.

    “The policy is stagnating our members and it is also a demoralising them. You can imagine as a worker, you have given your best to your organisation and when the time to be promoted comes, the management tells you that though, you scored 100 per cent yet you can’t move up to the next level simply because there is no vacancy.

    “We felt the best option open for us is this strike and until management does what we want, we are not returning to work,” Oseni said.