TEACHERS in Plateau state on Sunday, January 7, suspended their planned strike, scheduled to commence on Monday, January 8.
The planned action was suspended during a meeting with the local government chairmen and representatives of labour unions held in Jos, the state capital.
The state secretary of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Marshall Dachung announced the suspension.
Dachung disclosed that some resolutions reached during the meeting include payment of one month salary arrears for local government councils along with January 2024 salary.
“That during the personnel audit exercise, staff due for promotion and have received their promotion letters will be captured on their current promotion status and have their arrears paid to deserving workers after the audit exercise. The promotion is to be implemented by January 2024 salary.
“That the promotion of junior staff of non-professional teachers should be fast-tracked and released for immediate capture during the personnel audit exercise and subsequent implementation,” Dachung said.
He also noted that representatives of the labour unions would be part of the proposed personnel audit exercise scheduled to commence on Monday, January 15, and be completed in 21 days.
Other resolutions reached during the meeting are “that other staff on GL 15 and 16 not enjoying domestic servant allowance shall have theirs implemented along with January 2024 salary.”
Teachers in Plateau state have repeatedly threatened strike actions over unpaid salary arrears and other issues.
In September, before the recent negotiations, the chairman of the Plateau State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) Sunday Amuna pleaded with teachers employed by local governments to suspend a planned strike action.
He stated that the problem of unpaid salaries was as a result of misappropriation of funds by the previous administration and promised that the issue would be resolved in due time.
Ijeoma Opara is a journalist with The ICIR. Reach her via [email protected] or @ije_le on Twitter.