NAAT’s 3-Day Warning Strike Over Withheld Salaries: A Fight for Fairness and Justice

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has announced a three-day warning strike beginning on Wednesday, March 20, 2024, to protest the non-payment of four months’ worth of withheld salaries.

The decision was made at a National Executive Council (NEC) emergency virtual meeting.

NAAT’s President, Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma, explained that the strike is a result of the government’s failure to pay the salaries despite President Bola Tinubu’s directive in October 2024 to compensate university workers who went on a prolonged strike last year.

While the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been paid the four months’ worth of salaries as instructed by the President, NAAT is yet to receive anything.

The union has made numerous correspondences and protests to relevant government officials.

The “No work, no pay” policy, invoked by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, meant that university workers would not be paid salaries during the period they were on strike.

The Minister of Education has been urged to take note of the situation and ensure that the payment of withheld salaries is made across the board, as promised at a high-level stakeholders meeting in January 2024.

In the event that the government does not address the issue, NAAT has warned that it will embark on a three-day warning strike and nationwide protest on the first day, from Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd March, 2024.

Comrade Ibeji Nwokoma said, “This is to enable the union to press home its demand for the payment of withheld salaries of members of NAAT as approved by the Presidency.”

NAAT’s President called on the federal government to do the needful or be held responsible for any disruption of academic activities in our universities as they embark on this action.