LASU SSANU Vows To Continue Strike

Striking Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) at the Lagos State University (LASU) chapter on Friday vowed that it would continue strike until its demands were met.

The chairman of the chapter, Mr Oseni Saheed, said that the union was dissatisfied with the manner the university’s governing council was handling the strike.

The unionist also said that SSANU was not satisfied with some policies introduced by the council.

NAN reports that hundreds of SSANU members had on Thursday disrupted a meeting of the governing council with LASU workers.

LASU’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities was, however, not represented at the meeting.

Protesting SSANU members had marched from their secretariat to the university’s new auditorium where the meeting was being held.

Saheed said that the striking workers had been denied promotions since 2011.

He said that the governing council had not been responsive, adding that SSANU members could not be part of the meeting because they were not in the right frame of mind.

“In the last nine weeks, the union has been on strike, and nothing was heard from the governing council.

“The council which is the policy maker of the institution did not deem it fit to call us for resolution but today invited us for a meeting on financial matters.

“This meeting should not be held at a time when staff are angry and on strike.

“We are staff of the university; we are human beings and not slaves,” he said.

Saheed also said that the union was unhappy that the council approved an increase in school fees from N25, 000 to N380, 000.

“The policy has inflicted pains on students and staff, as LASU school fees are no longer affordable for children of the common man,” he said.

Saheed, however, hailed the state Gov. Babatunde Fashola for calling the union to a meeting last week over the strike.

The chairman of the council, Mr Bode Augusto, had told the protesters to be calm.

SSANU and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), LASU chapters, had been on strike since 30 September.

NASU, however, suspended its strike on 3 December, following Fashola’s intervention. [NAN]