TheCable

Trade unions at Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, Ondo, have notified the state government of an imminent strike over unpaid minimum wage.

NAN reports that Temidayo Temola, chairman of the joint action congress (JAC) of the unions, confirmed that the union had communicated with Lucky Ayedatiwa, the governor of Ondo.

Temola addressed journalists on Thursday in Okitipupa shortly after a congress of the trade unions.

He expressed the unions’ concerns about unpaid minimum wages, wage awards, and delays in the institution’s subvention.

The affected unions are the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities (SSANU), Non-Academic Staff Unions and Allied Educational Institutions (NASU), and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

Temola said that the state government failed to implement the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) new minimum wage of N30,000 to workers in the university since 2019  and also  discriminated in payment of N35,000 wage awards to workers.

He also said that the monthly subvention of the institution declined from N60 million to N42 million and later rose to N54 million which has been delayed for some time now.

“It is sad to note that as we speak, the 2019 minimum wage which is becoming old has not been effected in our salaries,” Temola said.

“You can now imagine the geometrical increase in prices of goods and services.

“We do not need any soothsayer to tell the whole world that no group of workers is more impoverished than the workers in this university.

“On the wage award which is to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal, whose payment was commenced in November and December 2023, we maintain that continuous discriminatory payment will not be tolerated or accepted.

“We are putting the state government, our university governing council, and management on notice of an impending industrial action if these issues are not resolved in a few days to come.”