The Senate on Tuesday, mandated its President, Ahmad Lawan, to invite the leadership of both academic and non-academic staff unions of universities for a meeting with a view to resolving their internal wranglings.
NASU had embarked on warning strike because the Federal Government has started implementing the agreement it had with their counterparts in the academic staff union.
The non-teaching staff lamented that the Federal Government gave preference to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of University but abandoned their own.
The Senate at plenary on Tuesday has therefore asked Lawan to meet with the two unions, the National Universities Commission and the Ministry of Education.
The meeting, according to the senators was with a view to assuaging the feelings of NASU over its alleged neglect by the government.
The lawmakers said the President of the Senate should also seize the opportunity of the parley to get clarification on all contending issues as they relate to their counterpart in ASUU.
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The resolutions were sequel to a point of order raised by Senator Barau Jibrin on the plan by NASU to embark on industrial action.
Jibrin noted with regrets that the issues over which the unions have given notice for industrial action were matters that concern their relationship with ASUU and the alleged refusal of the Federal Government to honour the agreement it had with them in 2006.
He noted that the NASU grievances also included the plight of their members on the national pension company which is now being operated by ASUU.
He said NASU also alleged that the Federal Government allocated 80 per cent of funds released as Earned Academic allowances to ASUU while the remaining 20 per cent was allocated to the non-academic staff.
The Senator said rather than accept what they were given by the Federal Government, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and NASU were asking a fresh demand of N20bn to non-teaching staff as Earned Allowances for the 2009 to 2016 period.
In his contribution, Senator Adamu Aliero said it was important for the Senate to intervene to avert any crisis. [PUNCH]
