UNITY SCHOOLS IN NIGERIA EMBARK ON STRIKE

 Members of the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria Abuja, ASCSN, in the Federal Ministry of Education including the Headquarters of the Ministry, the Inspectorate Departments and the 104 Federal Unity Colleges nationwide, yesterday, began a four-day warning strike over alleged government refusal to implement agreement between Federal Government and Labour on members’ conditions of service, among others.

Management and ASCSN of the Federal Ministry of Education presided over by the immediate past Minister of Education, Professor  Rukayyatu Ahmed Rufai, had on March 11, 2013, reached agreement on outstanding labour issues affecting members of the union in the ministry.

Leaders of ASCSN in a letter to the supervising Minister of Education, and cpoied the Secretary to the Government of  the Federation, Minister, Labour and Productivity, Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, and the Director General, Department  of State Service, DSS, intimating them about the commencement of the warning strike, threatened that if government did not address the union’s demands between November 26, 2013 and the end of the warning strike, other trade union actions which might include a full blown nationwide strike would be declared to assist the Union to actualise the welfare interest of its members in the ministry.

ASCSN in the letter through its Secretary General Secretary, Alade Bashir Lawal dated November 25, noted that “it is pertinent to state here that the ultimatum given to the Ministry has now expired and nothing concrete was done to implement the agreement even though we have been able to confirm the release of about N825 million by the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation to the Federal Ministry of Education to pay outstanding promotion arrears to members of staff in the Ministry.

The sum of N298,297,913 out of this amount was actually released in December, 2012, representing promotion arrears for 2011 while N527,643,440 was released for 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 promotion arrears.”

The letter, however, stated that “It is, however, disheartening to note that eight months after the signing of the agreement and three months after the  August 27, 2013 meeting, almost all the issues agreed upon, particularly payment of promotion arrears to affected members of staff were not implemented by the Ministry.”

source: vanguard