Nigeria’s popular Human Right Lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN has in an interview at the Channels Tv Politics Today, stated that the recent Federal Government’s ‘no work, no pay’ policy in paying the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities would not work.
Mr. Falana who joined virtually during Politics Today program of the Channels Tv admitted that: “By virtue of Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, during strikes, workers are not suppose to be paid. But the law has to be interpreted having regards to the facts and circumstances of every strike.” He further said that,
“In this particular instances, the period of eight months of the strike of ASUU is being factored into the amendment of the calendars of all the public universities in a way that the lectures that the students missed are being covered now.
The students are going to write their examinations at the end of the day. It’s very crystal clear that the 2021-2022 academic session has not been canceled. In otherwords, the lecturers are working. The lecturers are trying to cover the period that was lost. So, the doctrine of no work no pay is inapplicable!”
He also made reference to the National Association of Resident Doctors(NARD), who were paid last year when they embarked on a strike, insisting that such measure should also be applied to the Academic staff to ensure equality. Advising President Buhari to ignore the Minister of Labor, Chris Ngige and pay Lecturers their full salaries.
“Furthermore, it is public knowledge that the members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) embarked on a strike that lasted two months last year. The federal government dragged the striking doctors to the national industrial court which ordered the NARD to call off the strike. As soon as the strike was called off, President Muhammadu Buhari jettisoned the ‘no work, no pay’ principle and ordered the payment of the salaries for the two months that the strike lasted. On that occasion, the President overruled Dr. Ngige in the interest of industrial harmony in the health sector. In the same vein, the ASUU recently called off its 8-month old strike in compliance with the order of the national industrial court and the court of appeal. We are therefore compelled to call on President Buhari should ignore the advice of Dr. Ngige and direct the public universities to pay the full salary of each lecturer from February to October 2022.”
He therefore put out that if the Federal Government should go on the this policy, it would be a discriminatory act on the side of the government.