July 20, (THEWILL) – The ongoing nationwide strike by Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), has been extended by three weeks.
COEASU, in a communique issued at the end of its National Executive Council meeting, said the extension followed the failure of the Federal Government to embrace the union’s preference for the University Transparency Accountability System, UTAS and the failure of the state governments to address issues peculiar to state-owned colleges of education.
The communique, jointly signed by the National President, Dr Smart Olugbeko, and the General Secretary, Dr Ahmed Lawan, reads in part: “Most state governments are yet to address issues locally peculiar to state-owned colleges of education, especially in Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Abia, Kogi, Kaduna, Zamfara, Yobe, Akwa Ibom, Benue, Edo, and Ebonyi states. In fact, the situation has further deteriorated in some of these states with the enforcement of the draconian rule of “no work, no pay” and victimisation of Union leaders.
“The FG is yet to come out clear on the Union’s preference for UTAS against the troublesome Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, IPPIS.
“Having submitted the Union’s charter of demands to the FG team for the renegotiation, the posture and sincerity of the government towards meaningful collective bargaining cannot be ascertained until August 2, 2022, when the renegotiation proper begins.
“While empathetically acknowledging the appeal of critical stakeholders expecting the strike action to be suspended, the NEC painstakingly submitted that the timing must be properly calculated based on the foregoing reservations in order to consolidate on the gains of the struggle.
“Therefore, NEC unanimously resolved that the strike action should continue for the next three weeks, within which the Union hopes that the foregoing reservations should have been addressed.”
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