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Tag: suspend strike

  • Varsity non-teaching staff may suspend strike on Wed

    Varsity non-teaching staff may suspend strike on Wed

    • FG to pay striking workers N8bn

    The Federal Govern-ment has agreed to source for about N8 billion to settle the earned allowance of striking non-teaching staff of universities within the next five weeks.

    Based on this commitment, it was gathered the workers may call off the industrial action on Wednesday.

    Our correspondent learnt this formed part of the agreement reached between the striking workers under the Joint Action Committee and federal government after two days of conciliatory meeting.

    It was further gathered the government agreed no worker will be victimized on account of taking part in the strike action.

    The agreement was signed by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige; Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwukah; President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Samson Ugokwe; President of the National Association Academic Technologists (NAAT), Sani Suleiman and General Secretary of Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Peters Adeyemi.

    The workers embarked on indefinite strike on December 4, 2017 as a result of failure of government to implement some of the contents of the agreement of 20th September, 2017 with JAC.

    A copy of the agreement sighted by our correspondent stated: “Government is to source for N8billion within five (5) weeks to pay JAC of SSANU, NAAT and NASU members and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) and University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), who did not get paid in the last disbursement exercise.

    “The Federal Ministry of Education reported that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) has started payment of Salary Short falls and the process is still ongoing.

    “The FME is to synergize with the concerned institutions to ensure compliance with Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA) requirements to facilitate payments of JAC members in the Universities that are yet to comply.

    “The National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) is to rework the 15th December 2017 call Circular taking into consideration the observations of JAC of NAAT, NASU and SSANU with a view to ensuring that it complies with the National Industrial Court (NIC) judgment.”

    Other provisions were:  “It was also agreed that the Federal Ministry of Education would set in motion appropriate machinery for the release of White Paper in respect of previous visitation panel reports already with government.

    “The Minister of Labour and JAC leadership agreed that the ongoing strike would be suspended by Wednesday 14th March 2018, after due consultation with their National Executive Councils (NECs).

    “No Worker would be victimised on account of this industrial action.”

  • Oil workers suspend strike

    • Govt promises N650b payment 

    Depot and Petroleum Products Marketers Association of Nigeria (DAPPMAN), and Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) yesterday suspended their 14-days strike notice to the Federal Government owing to the government’s assurance to pay the outstanding N650billion debts to the marketers.

    DAPPMAN Chairman, Prince Dapo Abiodun and Executive Secretary,  Olufemi Adewole respectively made this disclosure in a statement.

    It said DAPPMAN/MOMAN have suspended the issued 14 days ultimatum, saying they are pleading “with all our staff under the various umbrella Unions: NARTO, PENGASSAN, NUPENG/PTD, to please bear with us whilst this approval for appropriation by the NASS is being deliberated on and processed, which we believe will not exceed two  weeks in view of the adverse implications of any delays.”

    They appealed to all marketers to ensure there is no disruption in the supply and distribution of petrol nationwide.

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kate Henshaw urges LUTH workers to suspend strike

    Kate Henshaw urges LUTH workers to suspend strike

    Nollywood actress Kate Henshaw is distressed at the moment. Reason, Michael, the little boy she went all out for cannot access treatment at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, LUTH because of some striking health workers.

    According to the actress who visited baby Michael who was diagnosed with had been diagnosed with ‘Ulcerated Infected Facial Haemangioma’ at the Idi-Araba hospital on Monday, the staff are on strike due to lack of promotions.

    “It is really a sad thing when we do not value human life in our nation, Nigeria,” said Henshaw on her Instagram page.

    “The total lack of basic and qualitative health care in this country is appalling.

    “That some can afford to travel outside the country for their medical needs no matter how minute (myself included) does not mean we forget those who cannot.

    “I am using this platform to call on the management of LUTH to kindly end this strike so that patients can get the necessary treatment.

    “The work conditions there are a huge challenge but the doctors and nurses try to do their best in these circumstances.

    “A part of the Hippocratic Oath says to “treat the ill to the best of one’s ability.”

    “As many as can lend a voice please do… A lot of lives are at stake… Thank you and God bless you all.”

    The mother of one since March has been urging people to contribute in saving baby Michael, who needs to undergo a surgery.

    Michael’s treatment is being coordinated by Lifestake Foundation, a not for profit, aimed at assisting fellow Nigerians in dire need of financial help for medical purposes.

     

  • UCH resident doctors suspend strike

    UCH resident doctors suspend strike

    Dr Adebayo Ogunjimi, the Chairman, National Association of Resident Doctors, University College Hospital (UCH) Branch, said yesterday that the union’s proposed strike had been suspended.

    Ogunjinmi made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan.

    “The proposed strike was suspended at the congress, following the timely intervention of the Minister of Health and more importantly for the sake of our patients.

    “We have given the management 30 days ultimatum within which all outstanding demands must be met and we hope they will not disappoint us again,” he said.

    NAN reports that the resident doctors are demanding the prompt payment of their salary arrears.

    They are also seeking the skipping of CONMESS 12 salary grade for doctors and the documentation of all demands raised by the association since negotiations began.

  • Doctors promise to suspend strike

    Doctors promise to suspend strike

    The leadership of the Medical and Dental Practitioners Union in Osun State has given an assurance that it will convince its members to suspend their ongoing industrial action. The assurance came after mediation by the State House of Assembly led by the Speaker, Rt. Hon Najeem Salaam, at a meeting  with the leadership of the State Association of Medical Dental Officers (OSAMDO), at the Assembly complex in Osogbo on Thursday.

    In a press release issued by the Chairman, House Committee on Information and Strategy, Hon. Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, the Speaker appealed to the striking Doctors to suspend the action, saying the masses were at the receiving end of the crisis.

    “You are major stakeholders in the health sector, and whenever you decide to lay down your tools, the masses suffer, people die. We are appealing that you go back to your duty posts while we continue our dialogue to ensure that your demands are met. The economic realities in the country, and particularly in a state like ours require that we all make sacrifices, and in making those sacrifices, the Osun Assembly will stand by you to see that justice is done,” he said.

    Salaam assured the striking doctors that after calling off the strike, the Assembly would ensure that none of them is victimised for their roles in the industrial action. Responding, the OSAMDO Chairman, Dr. Isiaka Adekunle, said the appeal of the house would be taken to the congress to convince them to suspend the action. He regretted that the lack of understanding between the government and the union made the issue to degenerate.

    “We will take your appeal to the house and we believe that we will be able to convince our members to suspend the strike action. The people of Osun should be expecting good news anytime from now due to the assurance we have received from the state Assembly”, he said.Adekunle commended the Assembly for its intervention, assuring that the legislature would be given feedback on the resolution of the union’s congress.

     

  • APC begs teachers to suspend strike

    APC begs teachers to suspend strike

    Teachers in public primary and Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) in Kwara State yesterday began an indefinite strike over three months unpaid salary.

    The pupils, who resumed from the Christmas and New Year holidays, were asked to go home.

    The Nation learnt that teachers in Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) did not join the strike, as they were not owed.

    The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Alhaji Abubakar Musa, said the action became imperative following the non-payment of October, November and December salaries.

    Musa, who said motivation was one of the indices of teaching, which the teachers lacked, added that they should stay at home until further notice.

    “There is no way hungry teachers can be efficient. It is better for them to remain at home until the government pays them.”

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) has urged the NUT leadership to suspend the strike.

    The spokesman, Alhaji Sulyman Buhari, said in a statement that the issue was not about non-payment of salaries, but non-availability of funds to pay, which required a collective effort rather than strike.

    The statement reads: “As a party, we wish to state that we feel the concern and share in the pains of primary school teachers. Quite unfortunate, this issue is caused by dwindling allocation from the federation account.

    “Therefore, it is not about non-payment of teachers’ salaries, but non-availability of funds to pay. It requires a collective effort to address, rather than strike. If the resources are available today, the Governor AbdulFatah Ahmed-led administration will pay teachers as it has done in the last five years.

    “Given the cordial relationship between the government and NUT, with the union, not too long ago, acknowledging the performance of Governor Ahmed in the sector, with its national merit award, we wish to say the record of the government is clear and the will to pay teachers’ salaries is not doubtful.

    “Since it is about non-availability of resources, the industrial action will be counter-productive and lacks the capacity to solve the contending issues.

    “In the light of the above, we appeal to the NUT leadership to suspend the strike.

    “We assure the people and our dear teachers that the government is not helpless in this financial quagmire. This is why it has embarked on aggressive revenue generation by repositioning the Kwara State Internal Revenue Service for effectiveness in the discharge of its roles as the revenue generating agency of the government.”

     

  • Fuel scarcity: Major marketers suspend strike

    Fuel scarcity: Major marketers suspend strike

    An end to the current nationwide fuel scarcity appears to be in sight after the Major Oil Marketers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN) yesterday  decided to resume  fuel  lifting  and distribution.

    This  followed   an agreement  reached between the MOMAN and  the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) .

    The Executive Secretary, MOMAN, Mr. Femi Olawore, told reporters  in Lagos that  filling stations will be receiving supply from today.

    The  Federal Government is understood to have paid  MOMAN members  N154 billion of its  N354 billion  subsidy debt, leaving a balance of N200 billion.

    The MOMAN, on its part, is indebted to the NARTO to the tune of N20billion which prompted the transport union to stop lifting fuel.Part of the money was paid by the NARTO in proportion to the  N154billion received by the MOMAN.

    Although the MOMAN  with the understanding of the NARTO and the  Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) gave government a two-week grace to settle the balance of N200billion,the transporters may embark on a fresh strike  if  their scheduled meeting with the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, on Monday bears no fruit.

    Olawore said: “We have scheduled to meet with the Coordinating Minister of the Economy on Monday, but if the meeting fails to address the issue we have tabled, we will continue the action.”

    Olawore said the marketers are ready to cooperate with the government, but except the payment is made in two weeks, they will return to  the status quo.

    Motorists’ and commuters’ sufferings  sparked  by the fuel crisis persisted in Lagos,Abuja and many parts of the country yesterday.

    Only a handful of filling stations had fuel to sell.

    The price was as high as N300 per litre in some cases.Only Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) petrol stations  sold at N87 per litre.

    Vehicles  formed long queues at the few filling stations that had fuel to sell. The effect was blockage  of roads and traffic jam.

    An example was the NNPC Mega Petrol Station on the Olusegun Obasanjo Way, Abuja.

    The multiple queues formed there extended to different streets in Zones 1  and  7 .

    Some motorists even queued at  locked petrol  stations in anticipation  that they might sell fuel later.

  • Fed Govt urges ASUU to suspend strike

    Fed Govt urges ASUU to suspend strike

    The Federal Government yesterday urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to suspend the ongoing strike to enable both sides discuss the issues involved and proffer solutions.

    The Minister of Interior, Abba Moro, addressed State House correspondents at the end of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by Vice President Namadi Sambo.

    The government urged ASUU to use strikes as a last resort.

    Moro was with the Minister of State I (Foreign Affairs), Viola Onwuniri, the Minister of State for Finance, Yerima Ngama, after the meeting, which lasted about an hour.

    He said: “On issues of national concern, the current impasse between ASUU and the Federal Government was considered with some concerns by the FEC.

    “We took a general overview of what has been happening in the education sector and expressed the concerns of the average Nigerians, stakeholders, parents and students. We concluded that a passionate appeal be made to ASUU to consider the overall interest of Nigerians in terms of the education of our children and to see the possibility of using a strike, which has become too incessant in recent times, as a last resort.

    “We also want to see that a common ground is developed between ASUU and the Federal Government, considering the fact that the development of education in all its ramifications is the collective responsibility of all stakeholders, including ASUU. Council also directed that some level of interactions be established between members of the Executive Council, the government and ASUU, to find a sustainable and enduring solution to the frequency of strike in the Nigerian university system.

    “We hope that the intervention by all stakeholders, including the National Assembly, traditional rulers and prominent Nigerians, would persuade ASUU to call off the strike and find other means of extracting from government its demands rather than resorting to strike once too often.

    “These are some of the issues that we have canvassed today.”

    The minister also said the FEC reviewed President Goodluck Jonathan’s state visit to China in search of partnership with the Asian country in various areas of development.

    He said: “Council considered the trip and its national significance and prayed for the success of Mr. President’s visit.

    “The Council also considered a variety of issues concerning Nigeria’s participation at the 67th Session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly between September and December, last year. It also considered a report of the special summit of the 50th anniversary of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU).”

    On the unsettled salaries and allowances in some ministries, Moro said: “Council considered that steps should be taken to ensure that in ministries and parastatals and MDAs, where salaries haven’t been paid, effort must be made to ensure that salaries are paid.”

    Against some reports, Onwuniri noted that there was nothing wrong with a Chinese minister receiving President Jonathan at the Chinese airport.

    According to her, the reception for President Jonathan in China on arrival was not against international practice.