The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) has demanded strict parity in welfare benefits and allowances with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in its ongoing renegotiation talks with the Federal Government.

The General Secretary of NASU, Mr. Peters Adeyemi, made the union’s position public while addressing journalists on Sunday in Geneva, Switzerland, on the sidelines of the 114th Session of the International Labour Conference.

Adeyemi insisted that non-academic workers deserve equal treatment, specifically pointing to the Federal Government’s approval of a 40 percent increase in allowances for members of ASUU as the baseline benchmark that must also be extended to NASU members.

He argued that non-teaching staff perform critical roles necessary for the smooth operation of public universities and should not be marginalized in the allocation of negotiated entitlements. The union leader confirmed that NASU officially rejected an initial government offer proposing a 30 percent increase in their Consolidated Academic Allowance, stating firmly that it fell short of economic realities.

“Government offered us 30 per cent and we said no,” Adeyemi stated. “Though they are our senior colleagues, we all go to the same market and buy the same fuel.”

He stressed that landlords, traders, and utility service providers do not discriminate between academic and non-academic university workers when charging for goods and services. Arguing that the high cost of living affects all categories of campus workers equally, Adeyemi maintained that NASU would not accept a framework where one group receives significantly better allowances than another.

Despite the friction over the percentage gap, the NASU scribe noted that renegotiation talks with the Federal Government have progressed substantially and are currently nearing a final conclusion at the university sector level.