(MENAFN- The Post)
THE National University of Lesotho (NUL)'s non-academic staff downed tools yesterday in protest over what they called poor service delivery by the registrar's office and discriminatory practices.
They were also demanding that the university provides them with a salary advance when they run into financial difficulties.
The Non-Academic Workers Union (NAWU) also demanded the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Professor Isaac Fajana.
The NUL spokesperson, 'Mamosa Moteetee, told thepost that the management is yet to discuss the workers' petition.
The strike began in the morning when the workers started singing struggle songs including the one that says Fajana theoha moo (Fajana step down).
Their placards were written messages saying“Enough with discrimination”,“We all have a right to work”, and“Fajana must go”.
The petitioners said the union and the university management reached an agreement at the Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution (DDPR) on April 28 last year that“all disputes were assigned a deadline for resolution”.
They said to finalise the agreement for implementation, both parties were required to report back before the conciliator by June 23, 2023.
“Nothing has been done thus far,” the petition reads.
NAWU says as the 14th council term was coming to an end, they asked the registrar to call for nominations of people who would be elected to the Non-Academic Staff Appointment Committee (NASAC).
The workers say despite their repeated reminders the registrar, whose office also serves as the NASAC secretariat, did not act on their request.
“The registrar's office has not yet taken any action, even though all university committees and boards have been renewed,” the petition reads.
The workers say on March 20 last year NAWU wrote a letter to the acting director of human resources regarding the salary arrears of five staff members in the bursar's department.
In response to a follow-up memo made to the Director of Human Resources in January 2024, the petition reads, she wrote a letter to the registrar reminding her about the NASAC recommendation.
They wanted the registrar to convene a meeting with the human resources manager and director of legal affairs to discuss the matter,“but to date, we have not received a response yet”.
On the issue of a salary advance, the workers wrote that on January 18 this year NAWU requested the resuscitation of the salary advance but the Vice-Chancellor has not responded.
“This is because salary advances provide financial support to university employees, especially NAWU members whose salaries are low and have no promotions yet,” NAWU writes.
They added that in the absence of salary advances, employees find themselves going to money lenders whose interest charges are too high.
The petitioners say that NAWU is strongly disappointed that the university had decided to apply“discrimination strategy among the non-academic staff”.
Workers say some of them have acquired additional qualifications and when they submit them to the human resource management for consideration they were treated differently.
Some of them received notches for obtaining additional qualifications while others only received“a congratulatory note from the office of the Human Resources and NASAC respectively”.
They requested the university management to review the NASAC's decision.
Nkheli Liphoto
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