We Will Renegotiate With Federal Government on 2009 Agreement –ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities will engage the team set up by the Federal Government to renegotiate the 2009 agreement with staff unions in universities, polytechnics and Colleges of Education based on the principle of collective bargaining, its president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi has said.

According to Ogunyemi, ASUU will disagree with the government’s team based on the principle of collective bargaining, if what they offer does not satisfy the demands of the university lecturers.

Ogunyemi expressed these views in an interview with news men in Abuja.

He said, “We are anxiously waiting for the government to inaugurate its negotiating team because it is going to be a full regime of renegotiation. They will invite is when they do that. We believe that they are still perfecting their procedures.”

Asked if ASUU has confidence in the government’s renegotiating team, Ogunyemi said the union was waiting.

He said, “Like I said, we don’t want to jump the process by expressing opinions that will look prejudicial. We want that process to commence. If they give us what we like, we will work together. But if they don’t give us what we like, we will take them on. We have our own procedure for engaging government. We have done it on a number of occasions, way back since 1992 when we signed the first agreement with government.

“So, the documents we are reviewing are products of this procedure. We always engage government because we believe in the principle of collective bargaining. So, it is the principle of collective bargaining that is guiding and driving us. We will see what they will bring to the table and we will also present our own position,” he added.