WYSN extends her solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Benue State University
WYSN extends her solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Benue State University
We call on the University management to meet the demands of the union now!
The Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN) extends her solidarity with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and Benue State University (BSU) branch over the announcement and commencement of a total strike action. We call on the University management to immediately meet the demands of the striking union now! Similarly, we demand a democratic probe of the university’s account over the past 5years.
We can recall the agreement reached by the ASUU-BSU, BSU administration and the governing council over the issues of promotion and annual increments in January 2023. According to the staff union, the State Government has improved the funding of the institution but the university management has refused to address the welfare concerns of its members despite previous engagements.
We can also recall that the staff union suspended her strike on June 26, 2023, after the state government and university management assured the union that their demands would be addressed. Some of these demands, according to the staff union, include but not limited to the implementation and payment of accrued arrears of 2021, 2022, and 2023 promotions, payment of annual incremental step arrears, April 2023 salary arrears, shortfall in the salaries of staff in the College of Health Sciences, payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), payment of Sundry allowances (PG, GST, EPS, SANDWICH), and the non-enrollment/implementation of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHTS), among others. We of WYSN believe these demands were not out of place as they are legally earned rewards/benefits of these academic workers. Hence, we are shocked that the university management has adamantly refused to fulfil her part of the agreement.
Consequently, we declare our total support and solidarity to the striking union. We call on the union not to make the struggle a mere sit-at-home strike but to accompany it with mass protests, pickets, rallies and public programs to further expose the rot in the system and to press home demands. Similarly, we call on the BSU Students Union, Non-academic staff union, ASUU national and the entire people of Benue to join in solidarity with the academic workers of the university.
We want to state categorically that for the effective and efficient running of every institution, the composition of the administration must be democratically elected. Membership of the management must be subjected to the vote of the simple majority of the workers, students and community. Likewise, the financial activities of institutions must be transparent and publicly audited. This way, we can start to hold the officers accountable and ensure the smooth running of the institution.
Damilola Owot
Secretary
Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN)