By Adadareporters
The Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Wednesday, told its members to work twice a week in view of difficulties in sustaining livelihood due to the removal of fuel subsidy by the Tinubu administration.
Smart Olugbeko, president of the union, stated this after the union’s extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday, July 18, 2023. According to him, members of the union ‘can no longer survive on the current minimum wage’.
He added that members of the union would not return to full work until the Tinubu government agreed to COEASU’s demand of a 200 percent increase in salary.
The statement read, “The national leadership of our union, in its extraordinary meeting held on Tuesday, 18th July 2023, had agreed to direct its members to go to work two days weekly until federal government yields to its demand of 200 percent increase in salary amidst the difficulty of members to get to work as a result of hike in the price of petrol.
“The implementation of the removal of fuel subsidy by the federal government two months ago raised the price of a litre of petrol by 250%.
“This worsened the inflationary rate on the cost of transportation, food, and other essential commodities and impoverished the Nigerian people. Workers, including staff of colleges of education, kept faith with the government and chose to endure the untold hardship thinking it would be only for a while as the government promised to roll out palliative measures including a significant increase in salaries.
“Alas! While our capabilities to sustain hope were already exhausted, the price of petrol rose further to N650 per litre. Now, the leadership of the union has been inundated by members’ complaints that they could no longer go to work as a result of a hike in the price of petrol and the resultant high cost of transportation.”
