By Cross Udo, Abuja
The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has lamented that after about nine months it reached an agreement with the Federal Government, but none of the agreements has been implemented by the government.
NAAT has also appealed to the Federal Government to pay the backlog of their six months of withheld salaries, as it followed all the necessary due process before embarking on the strike.
*Demands payment of withheld six months salaries, release of N50bn earned allowance
Briefing journalists in Abuja yesterday, the President of NAAT, Ibeji Nwokoma, further urged the government to ensure the payment of the N50bn promised earned allowance.
According to him, “Unfortunately, none of the items contained in the agreement reached, including those with timelines of three months, have been implemented.”
He urged the government to implement the 40 per cent pay rise for its members as was done for civil servants.
Nwokoma said, “NAAT is very concerned with the recent 40 per cent salary increment that has left out members of our union who are Federal Government employees. This we consider as discriminatory, unjust, and unfair, and an invitation to the industrial crisis.
“We, therefore, call on the government to immediately correct this injustice to members of NAAT by implementing as well as payment of the arrears of 23.5 per cent earlier approved for our members with effect from September 2022.
“Connected to this is the approval of N50bn by President Muhammadu Buhari for payment of arrears of Earned Allowance for members of the university-based unions which has not been released.
“As technologists, having suspended the strike, for the periods of which we were on strike were academic sessions of 2020/ 2021, 2021/2022 and we have come back to run the practical and we have graduated students. We have backlogs of this work for which the government said it will not pay.
“What is the reason for the government to withhold our salary for work which we have done? We are insisting, having embarked on this strike, and having gone back to do the work for the periods we were on strike, we are demanding that government should also pay us.
“We are calling on the present government to pay us the withheld salaries before they exit on May 29.”
