Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Port-Harcourt chapter, have threatened to skip the academic session missed during the period of the 8-month strike should the federal government insist on its "No work, No pay" policy.
The union members who have been at loggerheads with the federal government over the government's refusal to pay their backlog of salaries spanning a period of 8 months, gave the warning after a special congress and protest rally on Monday, November 21.
The lecturers displayed placards with various inscriptions during the demonstration which read;
“No to Pro Rata Salary Payment"
“Lecturers are not casual workers” and
“FG, stop maltreatment of lecturers”.
The UNIPORT chairman of ASUU, Dr. Uzoma Chima, said the congress was organized to express their dissatisfaction with the recent attempt by the federal government of Nigeria to casualize university lecturers. He explained that during the strike, lecturers were actively engaged in research and community service, and have returned to clearing the backlogs of work that should have been done during the strike, hence the policy of "no pay no work'' does not apply to them.
The union warned that if the FG refuses to pay their salary arrears, they will cancel and abandon the pile of work for those sessions and wait for admission to be conducted for the 2022/2023 session before resuming work.
