The Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, (ASUU-UNIMEDO) has rejected the agreement reached between the Ondo State Government and its counterpart at Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), insisting that its members remain on strike.
The ASUU-UNIMEDO chairman, Abraham Oladebeye, said the chapter was not invited to the meeting where the government and ASUU-AAUA negotiated the terms for resolving the industrial dispute.
Oladebeye said the agreement could not bind ASUU-UNIMEDO because it was reached at a meeting the union did not attend and did not address the resolutions of its own congress.
According to him, the union had returned a letter from the Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Igbekele Ajibefun, because its contents did not meet the terms of the resolutions reached by ASUU-UNIMEDO.
“Firstly, when they had the meeting, we were not invited. Secondly, the meeting birthed the letter, so a meeting we were not invited to can’t bind on us. Thirdly, the letter did not address our terms of resolutions in UNIMED,” Oladebeye said.
He said there had earlier been a general meeting involving the unions, but it ended with verbal assurances and a request for the managements of the affected institutions to submit documents showing the financial implications of implementing the new agreements.
Oladebeye said ASUU-AAUA was later invited to a separate meeting with the state government, while ASUU-UNIMEDO and ASUU of other universities in the state were not invited.
He said it was at the meeting that the government proposed to commence implementation from August and pay salary arrears from January to July in two instalments before January next year.
The ASUU-UNIMEDO chairman maintained that his union could not accept the outcome of a meeting it did not attend, particularly after examining the contents of the government’s letter and finding that it did not address its resolutions. He complained that the government had given AAUA special fund intervention, which was not extended to UNIMED.
Meanwhile, the ASUU-AAUA chairman, Prof. Bolu Oshodi, said the state government had intervened financially in the dispute and that a congress had been scheduled to direct members to resume academic activities.
“The government of Ondo State has intervened financially, and a congress to direct all our members to resume academic activities has been scheduled,” Oshodi said.
The development came as the Joint Action Committee of Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions (JAC-ODSTI) announced the suspension of its indefinite industrial action, directing affected workers to resume duties on Tuesday, September 29.
The suspension affects members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union and National Association of Academic Technologists in Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa, and the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo.
The unions, which commenced the strike on September 2 over unresolved issues arising from the implementation of agreements between the Federal Government and university-based unions, said the suspension followed financial intervention by Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa.
However, JAC-ODSTI urged the managements of the institutions to address the outstanding non-financial aspects of the agreements to prevent another industrial dispute.
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