The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) may call off its three-month-old strike on Friday, the union's Deputy National President, Mr Tijjani Wakil, has said.
Wakil told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that calling off the strike would be in the aftermath of consultations with stakeholders.
NAN recalls that the union, which members are workers of research institutes' across the country, had vowed not to call off the strike until its members' demands were fully-met.
Wakil said the union met with the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, on Tuesday and was satisfied with the discussions.
"The union met with the minister yesterday (Tuesday) and he (Wogu) said President Goodluck Jonathan had approved the memo on all our demands.
"But we have told the permanent secretary that the union needs to see a letter from the ministry telling us the details of what was in the memo the president signed.
"The minister has been trying, but we need to be convinced that government is actually serious," Wakil said.
The union official said the document, which was signed by Jonathan, was tagged classified but that the union could not rely on such information.
Wakil said the union would be meeting with its members on Friday to decide on the way forward.
"We operate an open system in the union. So, we have called for the meeting of all members, where it will be decided if the strike should be called off or sustained.
"The meeting will involve the Trade Group comprising all the seven trade groups in the union. They have the final say on the strike and we are waiting for their decision at the meeting," Wakil said.
NAN recalls that the union had, since Feb. 5, embarked on an indefinite strike to protest Federal Government's non-implementation of an agreement reached with it in 2009.
The demands of the union include the payment of the arrears of the 53.7 per cent salary increment for workers in research institutes as well as the funding of research institutes.
It also wants the formation of a National Commission for Research Institutes to co-ordinate the activities of the research institutes in the country.
NASU similarly wants the retirement age of the institutions' staff members to be increased from 60 to the 65 already approved for their colleagues in universities, colleges of education and polytechnics.
