Unions in the university system, including the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have blamed the lingering industrial crisis in the education sector on failure of the Federal Government to keep the collective bargaining agreement reached with them.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba stated that government’s penchant for reneging on agreements reached through collective bargaining with labour unions was responsible for frequent industrial action being witnessed in the education sector.
Wabba’s position was re-echoed by the National President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Samson Ugwoke, who said thebiggest challenge faced by the union was the lack of respect of agreements duly and freely entered into by government at all levels.
But the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, Prof. Abubakar Rasheed disagreed, saying demands by various unions in the universities have led to polarisation of the university system, making it difficult to match up with its peers abroad.
Rasheed lamented that constant strikes by unions in universities was affecting the robust growth of the system They spoke at the 2nd Quadrennial delegates conference organised by SSANU with the theme: “Respecting the sanctity of collective bargaining in democracy.”
Wabba said: “You don’t sign agreement for the sake of it. You signed so that it can be implemented. You can’t sign an agreement and then wait till it is due for implementation before raising issues.
“I think that has been the problem of collective bargaining administration in this country. Are we looking for a global standard or Nigerian standard?
“We should be aiming at a global standard not Nigerian standard and the global standard is enshrined in convention 198 of International Labour Organization (ILO). “The important one which we constantly refer to is the collective bargaining agreement of 2009 between federal government and ASUU. If that agreement was signed in good faith and was implemented, I am not sure we will be where we are today.”
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