BY: NewsPeddlers
Members of the National Executive Council
of Academic Staff Union of Universities held a crucial meeting in Abuja over
their 12-week strike, by Sunday evening.
A member of ASUU NEC told PUNCH that the
strike may be extended.
“We are still meeting. But from the reports
given so far, we have no reason to suspend the strike. The Federal Government
is not serious,” the NEC member said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and
Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, had on Friday stated that the Federal Government
and ASUU would resume negotiation this week.
Ngige pointed out that the multiple
industrial strike in the education sector could have been avoided if the unions
in the education sector took advantage of his open-door policy like the health
unions.
“We
don’t have to cry over spilt milk. Let us look at your issues to see the ones
we can handle immediately, the ones we can do in the medium term and the ones
we can do in the long term.” He said.
Ngige also claimed that he does not have the
capacity to provide solutions to some of the problems the demands of the union.
“There are certain ones that are over and
above me that are not in my hands to do.
“My job is to prepare an agreement after
conciliation on what you have agreed with your employers, the Federal Ministry
of Education, put timelines and monitor them, to see whether the results will
be there,” he said
SOURCE: PUNCH