Teachers’ strike: FCTA, NUT meeting ends in deadlock

A meeting between members of the FCT executives of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and other stakeholders to resolve the ongoing primary school teachers’ strike over non-payment of their promotion arrears has ended in a deadlock.

 City & Crime had reported that the teachers, last week, directed all primary school teachers across the FCT to embark on an indefinite strike over the arrears, the 40 per cent peculiar allowance and other entitlements.

 A source, who was part of the meeting, told our reporter that the meeting was summoned at the instance of the FCT Minister of State, Hajiya Mariya Mahmoud, which had FCT Director for Education, Mandate Secretary for Area Council Service Secretariat, Mandate Secretary for Education, as well as stakeholders from the FCT Universal Basic Education Board.

 He disclosed that the council chairmen pleaded with the teachers to give them three months to look into their demands.

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 He further said that the stakeholders at the meeting mounted pressure on the NUT executives to persuade their members to call off the strike, but that the union refused to shift ground and insisted that the council chairmen must either pay the 40 per cent peculiar allowance or 25 months promotion arrears owed their members.

 He added that, “At least all the six area councils should pay us our 40 per cent arrears in bulk this week just the way our colleagues in UBEB and SEB got theirs, then implement the 40 per cent in our salary by September unfailingly, while payment of the arrears of 25 months minimum wage begins in October and runs alongside the other backlog of allowances that are not general, such as the promotion arrears.”