By Sadiq Abubakar, Abuja.
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has issued a 21 days ultimatum to the six Chairmen of the area council, over non – payment of backlogs of school teachers promotion arrears.
Addressing newsmen at the end of the State Wing Standing Committee (SWSC) emergency meeting of the union at the teachers house in Gwagwalada, on Saturday, Chairman of the FCT NUT, Comrade Stephen Knabayi, said the authorities of the six area councils has failed to pay the backlogs of 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 arrears promotion of teachers across the area councils.
He said the councils chairmen have also failed to pay the teachers their annual increment for 32 months, adding that they have also failed to implement the 2019 and 2020 promotion for the primary school teachers.
According to him, the promotion and annual increment of salary is a statutory and right for all teachers, which he said are the two major source that brings little increase to their income.
“And a situation where the implementation of promotion and annual increment is delayed and payment of its arrears runs into many years, kills morale of the teachers and counter- productive to the teaching /learning process and in the achievements of 2030 Education Agenda in FCT and Nigeria at large,” he said.
He said it was unfortunate that the union had severally approached the councils authorities at different fora and meetings and backed with several correspondences without any positive response from them.
He said it was that premise that the union has resolved to issued the six area councils chairmen a 21 days ultimatum from Thursday, 2, to Wednesday, 22, September, 2021, within which he said the area councils fail to pay the teachers promotion arrears, the union will have no other option than to embark on indefinite industrial action as in line with the labour laws.
“And we wish to further inform you sir, that we have been pushed to the wall and could no longer condone these injustices meted to our teachers. As we wish to reiterate that failure to respond to these demands, within the stipulated time will leave the union with no other alternative steps in accordance with the labour laws to press home our demand,” he said.
Efforts by Global Times Nigeria correspondent to get reaction of the chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, who is also the ALGON chairman in FCT, over the ultimatum were not successful, as he could not reached.
