Former Presidential Aide and All Progressives Congress chieftain, Senator Ita Enang, has urged the Federal Government to institute legal action against the Academic Staff Union of Universities for contempt of court over its persistent demand for the payment of withheld salaries and other issues.
Enang made the call during an interview on Wednesday in Abuja, stating that ASUU’s demand violates a 2023 court order which ruled that the union was not entitled to salaries for the period its members were on strike.
It would be recalled that ASUU embarked on strike on October 13 to press for the implementation of agreements reached with the Federal Government, including improved staff welfare, adequate funding, and university autonomy.
“They are going on strike to compel the federal government to disobey court order,” Enang said. “If you want to go on strike, you have to agree that under the law, which is existing, which governs you, that you have to forfeit your salaries for the period.
“In the US and in the UK, there is a Strike Fund, the money that the union pays members from during strike because at such periods they are not entitled to salaries from their employers.”
Enang advised ASUU to suspend its ongoing strike and resume work while continuing negotiations with the Federal Government.
“The middle ground is for the federal government and ASUU to know that the same responsibility that the federal government owes to it as a trade union and employees is the same responsibility that the federal government owes to the students, the innocent students whose academic calendar and academic life have been truncated and prejudiced.
“So, the academic staff union should know that those who want to go on strike should be prepared to lose their salary according to law and they should read the judgment. Particularly paragraph two in that judgment, because in that judgment one of the things we claimed was that the period that the workers were on strike should not be counted.”
The former lawmaker maintained that all the concerns raised by ASUU had been adequately addressed by the Ministry of Education and the Federal Government, questioning the rationale behind the renewed industrial action.
He described the strike as an act of contempt of court.
Citing relevant provisions of the International Labour Organisation, Enang argued that the “no work, no pay” policy of the Federal Government aligns with both domestic and international labour laws.
He further warned that any attempt by the government to pay striking workers would amount to contempt of court.
“The question we asked the court is to determine on page two of the judgment was to interpret the provisions of Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, Cap. 8, Laws of the Federation. It is titled Special Provisions with Respect to Payment of Wages During Strikes and Lockouts, specifically dealing with the rights of employers and employees and workers during the period of any strike or lockout,” he explained.
“I have listened to the statement by Dr. Alausa, the Minister of Education, saying that the Vice-Chancellors should not pay the salaries and that they should honour the policy of no work, no pay. I want to urge the Minister that he doesn’t need to do that, but should rather charge ASUU for contempt of Court,” he added.
