The Trade Union Congress (TUC), one of Nigeria’s leading amalgamated labour unions, has threatened to embark on a solidarity strike with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to compel the government to address the workers’ concerns and reopen the universities.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, a copy of which was obtained by PREMIUM TIMES, TUC accused the Nigerian government of deliberately neglecting the universities and subjecting the workers and students to untold hardship.
This is coming a few days after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)- TUC’s counterpart, threatened to declare a three-day warning strike in similar solidarity with the striking ASUU members.
Similarly, apart from the declaration by the national leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to disrupt the primaries of political parties in Abuja, the federal capital territory (FCT), the South-east axis of the union has given a nine-day ultimatum to the government to ensure the reopening of the universities.
The statement, which was signed by TUC president, Quadri Olaleye, urged the government “to immediately resolve all lingering issues with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or be ready for any industrial action.”
The statement reads in part; “The Congress and its affiliates are unanimous on the return of our children back to school, and the government has no excuse whatsoever to further keep these innocent students and their lecturers at home. The Congress is worried that a government that could raise money to feed children who were at home during the heat of COVID-19 cannot do the same for the education sector now.”
The union accused both the ministers of education and his labour and employment counterparts, Adamu Adamu and Chirs Ngige respectively, of failure to address the lingering issues, and advised them to resign.
Credit: premiumtimesng.com
