Payment of arrears of allowance: Osun varsity NASU protests

THE Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) of Osun State University, on Monday, staged a protest to demand for the payment of arrears of allowance the institution was owing its members.According to the NASU chairman, Mr Isaiah Fayemi, the institution was owing them 35 months of harzard allowances and nine months of peculiar allowances, adding that all efforts to make the university pay the arrears failed.Fayemi said instead of paying the arrears, the management of the institution was only interested in the welfare of top management staff, adding that recently, the management decided to buy Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) for each of the principal staff at the expense of the NASU members. The striking workers did appealed to the state governor, Mr Rauf Aregbe-sola, to come to their aid, by approving the payment of their allowances, which was recommended by the Federal Government for NASU members.The protesting workers, who locked all the gates leading into the university main campus, prevented all the staff of the institution from gaining access, while the ongoing examination was disrupted.The NASU chairman noted that series of meeting had been held over the matter, but nothing concrete had come out of it.Speaking on the development, the senior assistant registrar in charge of public relations in the institution, Mr Marcus Awo-bifa, said the matter had been resolved, as the government had approved the payment of the allowances.He explained that the university was unable to pay the money as expected of the NASU staff because the institution has a limit to amount of money it can spend, also that the university council which was not in place prevented the institution from increasing its spending, stressing that only the council has the power to increase the amount the institution can spend.Speaking on the outcome of the meeting Mr Fayemi said the union was not pleased with the outcome of the meeting, because the state governor Mr Rauf Aregbesola only approved payment of peculiar allowance of nine months, while the hazard allowance of 35 months was left out. He maintained that the industrial action would continue until, the state government and the university authority complied with their demand. He said they would not allow any examination to be conducted for the students.
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