Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan
The academic peace at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, is under threat as the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the school has issued a 10-day ultimatum to the university management to pay the August, September and October salaries of its members or face industrial crisis.
The ultimatum expires on November 15.
The union, in a congress resolution jointly signed by the Chairman, Dr.Biodun Olaniran, and Secretary, Dr Toyin Abegunrin, in Ibadan Wednesday, said it might resort to strike at the expiration of the ultimatum on November 15 if its members are not paid, stating that the academic staff of the university are being owed 11 months cumulatively.
The union also threatened that the rain semester results of the 2018/2019 academic session would be withheld until the salaries are paid, insisting that LAUTECH academics deserved to be paid their earned salaries without begging.
THISDAY learnt that the Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof. Michael Ologunde, had attributed non-payment of salaries to non-release of subvention to the institution by the two owner states.
However, ASUU maintained that the welfare of its members remained paramount in its demands and would do everything at its disposal not to expose its members to undeserved economic hardship.
The congress resolution read in part: “The Union gives the University administration till Friday 15th November, 2019 to pay the salaries of August, September and October 2019 failure of which will cause the Union to hold a Congress on Monday 18th November, 2019 where necessary action deemed fit will be taken. That rain semester results of 2018/2019 academic session would not be submitted until the said salaries are paid.”
