The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has fully backed the decision of
three trade unions, the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), the National
Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the National
Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) to embark on solidarity strike
actions to compel the Federal Government to honour agreement signed with
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
This was disclosed by the National Coordinator of the group, Hassan Taiwo, yesterday.
The group therefore urged the three unions to take the solidarity
beyond the realm of threats and immediately name a day in which the
strike would take place.
ERC also appealed to the unions to mobilise members as well as
students who are frustrated at home and concerned Nigerians to come out
en-masse for mass protests.
“We commend the three unions for taking this decision which we
believe is in the best interest of the education sector and the nation
at large.
“We agree that the ASUU strike has gone too long and the plethora
of strikes in the education sector are just too many. Slowly the entire
public education sector is grinding to a halt. For instance, the public
polytechnics are equally closed and it will not be too long before the
Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) follow suit.
“The Colleges of Education lecturers had recently held a 7-day
warning strike. Indeed, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP)
had to resume the strike they had suspended in July after three months,
due to the insensitivity and insincerity of government to their demands
and terms of the suspension of the last strike,” it lamented.
ERC said, “A wave of one-day solidarity strikes by the labour
movement accompanied by mass protests and demonstrations can alter this
situation and compel the Federal Government to meet the demands of ASUU,
ASUP, COEASU and other unions on industrial actions so that the schools
can resume.
“This is why we commend the three unions for taking this decision
which we believe is in the best interest of the education sector and the
Nation at large.
It added that the three unions decision to embark on solidarity
strike if given full and practical effect could help pile pressure on
the recalcitrant anti-poor Federal Government to meet demands of
striking education unions so that public Universities and Polytechnics
can be reopened for academic activities to resume.
“We want to stress that the solidarity actions which the NUT, NUPENG
and NUEE have envisioned should also cover and back the strikes of
ASUP, COEASU and all other unions in the education sector that have any
on-going dispute with the government over pay, conditions and education
funding”, it said.
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