The University of Ibadan has assured aggrieved members of the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), UI branch, at the second phase of their peaceful protest over the issue of their earned allowance and ensures that justice is done by ensuring deserving members of staff are paid their entitlements.
NAAT had earlier staged the first phase of its protest in the form of a congress, accusing the management of the institution of unfair allocation of the earned allowance that was released by the Federal Government among the members of the staff in the university.
Addressing the NAAT members at the second protest, which comprised staff members of the institution from the laboratories, studios, clinics and workshops, the vice chancellor of the university, Professor Kayode Adebowale said the issue would have to be settled on a conference table with the management setting up a committee that would involve all the unions in the institution.
His words: “I have always told people that earned allowance is the payment for the work that you do. It is to be earned and not just be distributed.”
“We cannot settle everything with this number of people. We are going to sit together and settle it on the conference table. There is going to be a committee that is going to comprise all the unions in the university. By the Grace of God, we are going to sit together and l want to assure you of justice. There is going to be justice.”
He promised to personally follow closely on the activities of the committee, stressing that “the committee is going to do its work and I can assure you that justice will be done.”
A staff member from the Maintenance Department, Mr Siseku Andrew, pleaded on behalf of the technical staff that the management should endeavour to follow to the letter the 2009 agreement on how the earned allowances should be paid only to deserving members in the university.
Emmanuel Nnodem from the Department of Environmental Biology, while speaking on behalf of the laboratory staff, revealed that how the earned allowance should be shared is also entrenched in the NASU and SANNU agreement that NAAT members who work in the university’s laboratories, workshops, clinics and studios and are exposed to occupational hazards on regular basis should be paid.
He pleaded that the management should look into the agreements and use them as measures guiding the payment of the hazard allowances.
The representative of UI Health Services, Jaja Clinic, Mr Festus Oladunjoye, reiterated that the earned allowance should be paid to eligible workers, just as Mr Babatunde Osinuga also from the same session, noted that other universities had paid the earned allowance up to 2017.
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