ASUU protests as FG withholds union dues
This online newspaper has learned that the Federal Government failed to deposit the check-off dues it withheld from university lecturers’ November 2022 salaries into the account of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.
What is ASUU Check-off Due
The amount deducted from an employee’s pay in exchange for their membership in a union or other group that advocates for workers in a given sector is known as a check-off due.
In an interview with our correspondent in Abuja, Prof. Gbolahan Bolarin, the head of the ASUU chapter at the Federal University of Technology, Minna, confirmed that the government had not sent the check-off dues for November.
Despite the pro-rata salaries that were paid for the month of November, Bolarin stated, “The problem now is that the account of ASUU was not credited.
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Those who received their pay slips noticed that check-off dues and cooperative dues were deducted.
“The government granted credit to the cooperatives but not to ASUU. Considering that you stated that you paid us pro rata, where did the check-off and cooperative dues come from?
Why then was not ASUU’s account credited despite the fact that the check-off dues were taken out? You failed to credit the union after deducting union dues from the source.
FG explains it’s Reason for withholding ASUU union dues.
In an interview with our correspondent, the Ministry of Labour and Employment’s spokesperson, Olajide Oshundun, defended the government’s choice regarding the check-off fees.
Oshundun stated, “The Trade Union Act contains a constitutional provision (Section 37, Subsection 1) stating that the Academic union must annually render an account of money remitted to the body.
Each month, ASUU receives a deduction from each member’s dues to fund the operation of their secretariat.
“They are also required to submit an audited report of this money annually, but ASUU failed to do so for four straight years.
The audited report of funds collected for the past four years has not been submitted, the ministry wrote to ASUU to inquire as to why.
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After receiving that letter, ASUU chose not to respond. They did not even acknowledge receiving the letter in writing. ASUU was then sent a letter of reminder, which was also ignored.
“Then the ministry decided that the Academic Staff Union of Universities should not receive the check-off amount owed that had been withheld by IPPIS for November.
The money held by IPPIS will therefore be released to them once they respond and justify how they spent the released funds.
Bolarin, however, criticised the ministry’s stance regarding the audit report.
He insisted that the union turn in the requested report.
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