Former Presidential Aide, Sen. Ita Enang has called on the Federal Government to drag the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) to court for contempt for demanding payment of unpaid salaries among other demands.
Enang, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) made this known in an interview on Wednesday in Abuja.
He said that ASUU’s demand was in contravention of a court order obtained in 2023, which stated that the union was not entitled to salaries while on strike.
It would be recalled that ASUU had proceeded on strike on Oct. 13 to press home for some of its demands on agreement reached with the federal government with regards to staff welfare including funding and autonomy of the universities.
Enang said: “They are going on strike to compel federal government to disobey court order.
“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.
“My advice to ASUU is to call off the strike and go back to work while they continue with 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 in that judgment was that the period that the workers were on strike should not be counted”.
According to Enang, all the issues raised by ASUU have been passionately addressed by the Ministry of Education and the federal government, wondering what ASUU was looking for in ordering fresh strike, insisting that the strike constitute contempt of Court.
The former lawmaker made reference to the relevant sections of the International Labour Organisation, which supported the lack of salaries for workers who embarked on strike.
He insisted that the “no work, no pay” directive of the Federal Government was in tandem with domestic and international Labour Laws.
Enang said paying striking workers amount to contempt of Court by the Federal Government, stressing that the Federal Government must not be seen to be in contempt of Court like the striking ASUU.
He said: “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, Capt. 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”.
“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 maintained.
