ERC To Striking Unions: Embark On Nationwide Mass Protest
The Education Right Campaign(ERC) has said there is need for striking unions in the country to escalate the tensed situation already caused by labour union strikes by embarking on nationwide mass protests and demonstrations on the streets to compel government to meet their demands.
The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) in a release co-signed by National Coordinator and National Secretary, ERC, Hassan Taiwo Soweto and Ibukun Omole respectively, puts the blame for the lingering strike of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non Academic Staff Union NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) at the door steps of the present administration.
According to them, since the strike started in December 2017, the federal government has largely ignored the unions.
ERA said, “In fact, the President Buhari government has been insensitive to the demands of the striking unions and the plight of students who have been subjected to terrible living and studying conditions as a result of the stoppage of essential services like water and electricity supply to classrooms, libraries, laboratories, offices and hostels as well as waste disposal due to the strike action.
“We in the Education Rights Campaign (ERC) strongly condemn the federal government refusal to resolve the issues surrounding the demands of the striking unions. We believe that every worker has the right to his or her wages and associated allowances and the demand for earned allowances by the unions is for the services rendered to the institutions and by extension Nigeria at large.
“We hereby demand the immediate meeting of the demands of the striking unions which include payment of backlog of earned allowances that the government has been owing the striking workers for several years now”.
The ERC said it stands with SSANU, NASU and NAAT in their struggle, saying for far too long, successive anti-poor governments have treated non-academic workers with disdain.
“However, this is not to mean that academic workers are treated any better. Meanwhile, without non-academic workers, no university or any institution can function,” they said.
They therefore urged SSANU, NASU and NAAT to escalate the strike by organizing nationwide mass protests and demonstrations to build public support for the strike and pile pressure on the government.
