News
NUT cautions teachers against false claim
By Ibrahim Adam
The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) has advised the secondary school’s teachers to disregard claims by the splinter group, Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS), that the Supreme Court, on January 15, 2021, delivered judgment granting it autonomy as a new trade union.
At a briefing in Ilupeju, Lagos, NUT’s National President Dr. Nasir Idris, represented by his deputy, Kelvin Nwankwo, said the warning became necessary so as not to cause confusion among members.
“The group of secondary school teachers making a hollow, deceptive and false claim to have obtained judgment to unionise secondary school teachers is reckless, complete falsehood and extraneous to the decisions of the Supreme Court, as well as and other relevant labour laws,” he said.
Idris said the union was the only recognised teachers’ trade union at primary and secondary school levels, noting that the true position of ASUSS was still pending in court.
He said: “In August 2009, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, in a letter, ref. No: ML.IB/19.T.31 of August 2009, where the Minister said: ‘Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) is not a registered trade union and cannot unionise secondary school teachers. With this provision of the Trade Union Act, we call on all teachers of secondary schools to disregard the baseless claim by ASUSS, as no such matter of membership of secondary school teachers, was before the Supreme Court and the status of NUT in unionising teachers of primary and secondary schools remain sacrosanct and backed by the jurisdictional scope of trade unions as contained in the Trade Union Act CAP T.14 LFN 2004, cited above.”
