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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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Unity schools' teachers end strike
THE Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) at the weekend suspended its two-week old strike. It has therefore, directed that work should resume immediately at all the Federal Government Colleges (FGC) and Unity Schools throughout the country effective from yesterday.
The suspension of the strike followed several hours of negotiation between the national leadership of the association and the officials of the Federal Ministry of Education at the conference hall of the National Universities Commission (NUC) in Abuja at the weekend. The peace deal was brokered by the Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Timiebi A. Koripamo-Agary.
The Federal Government Colleges and Unity Schools resumed for the academic session since October 2, 2004, but no academic activities had been taking place as a result of the strike, which the association declared to protest against what the labour leaders called highhandedness of some principals of some colleges across the country.
The Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education, Alhaji Ibrahim Talba, led other officials of the ministry to the talks, while the National President of the ASCSN and the Secretary-General of the association, Mr. Solomon A. Onaghinon, led their members to the dialogue session.
The association accused the ministry of having the worst industrial relations out of the 40 Federal ministries in the country, citing the insistence of some directors in the ministry who had blocked attempts to unionise the ministry, particularly the Federal Colleges. Other alleged offences included official highhandedness of the principals of the colleges, using transfers as tools to victimise unionists.
There was also the allegation of non-implementation of monetisation of fringe benefits, irregular payment of salaries and allowances, non-payment of authorised claims such as 28 days in lieu of hotel accommodation, overtime of qualified officers, and medical claims approved by the Federal Ministry of Health.
But a six-point statement after the negotiation resolved that the monetisation arrears would be paid alongside the October salary, while the other contentious issues will be taken up by the union with the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, administratively. Consequently, it directed that all the previous communication be sent to the Permanent Secretary (Education) and copied to the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity for follow-up purposes.
The statement also directed that the union should be allowed to function unhindered within the provisions of the labour laws, while union officials should act within the ambit of Public Service Rules and Regulations.
It also directed that there should be no victimisation of union officials as a result of the dispute, while noting that all the unity schools that were yet to resume full academic activities should do so by last weekend.
In an interview with The Guardian, Onagbinon warned the education ministry officials against breaching the agreement, saying: "We merely suspended the strike, if we notice any attempt to repudiate it by them, we will resume the strike."
But he was full of praises for the Labour Ministry's Permanent Secretary, saying she did everything to make sure that the matters were resolved.
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