LASU lecturers threaten to go on indefinite strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos State University, Ojo Chapter, has declared a trade dispute and given the institution a 21-day ultimatum to meet its demands. This is contained in the union’s bulletin titled, ‘Declaration of a Trade Dispute’, dated April 1. A copy of the bulletin made available to the News Agency of Nigeria on Friday said the decision to give the ultimatum was taken at a congress of the union. The union said in the bulletin that they would embark on an indefinite strike if the demands were not met at the expiration of the ultimatum. “We hereby give a 21-day ultimatum effective from March 24, to the governing council to implement all matters already agreed. “At the expiration of this ultimatum, the union will embark on a total, indefinite and comprehensive strike, if its demands are not met,” the union said. It said the trade dispute was declared as a result of the non-implementation of some demands, on which the management and the union had reached agreements in the past 12 months. According to the bulletin, the union is disappointed that the Lagos State Government has insisted on retaining the excessive school fees in the institution despite the dwindling enrolment figure. “This policy contradicts the objective of establishing the institution. “It is not sustainable and portends great danger to the citizens of Lagos State who are desirous of tertiary education,” the union said in the bulletin. It noted that it was displeased with the continuous use of the ‘no vacancy, no promotion policy’ of the present administration to stifle career advancement of its members. According to the bulletin, the partial implementation of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act of 2012 in LASU is an act of inequality. “This is an Act currently being implemented in all Federal Universities and in almost all State Universities in Nigeria,” the union bulletin stated. It stated that the meeting between the union and the various stakeholders of the institution to resolve the issues at stake was unproductive.