17 July 2008
The Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT) said yesterday sacking striking teachers in Niger State would not bring an end to the ongoing strike embarked upon by members of the union.
Mr Ikpe Obong, the General Secretary of the NUT, stated the stand of the union in Abuja in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Gov. Aliyu Babangida of Niger State on Tuesday asked all striking teachers in the state to return to class or be sacked. Obong said it was not possible for all teachers in the state to be sacked.
He advised the governor to embrace a more proactive method of solving the issue in contention instead of threatening to sack the teachers and employ new ones.
"Any teacher employed would still be a member of the NUT, so employing a fresh set will not change anything, it will only mean that he will keep sacking and employing until the TSS is implemented.
"Therefore, threatening the teachers will not bring them back to class, instead he should adopt a positive process that will benefit all," Obong said.
The NUT scribe said the only thing that could bring an end to the strike was for the Federal Government to issue the enabling circular for the implementation of the Teachers' Salary Scale (TSS).
Members of the NUT embarked on a nationwide strike on June 30 to mount pressure on the Federal Government to issue a circular for the implementation of the new Teachers' Salary Scale.
Dr Igwe Aja-Nwachukwu, the Minister of Education, had on June 10, announced that the Federal Government had agreed to a 27.5 per cent increase on the allowances of teachers in its employ.
But the NUT national executive, which had called out its members on a warning strike as from June 11 to June 13, had insisted on the issuance of a circular to back the increase.
The Revenue Mobilisation, Wages and Fiscal Commission, responsible for recommending increase in wages, recently opposed the Federal Government's proposed 27.5% increase in teachers' allowances.
Instead, the commission recommended the payment of certain job peculiarity allowances to the striking members of the NUT.
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