The ruling of the National Industrial Court, Akwa, Anambra State Capital to stop the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), Delta State from deducting check off dues from salaries of Secondary School Teachers by the Nigerian Union of Teachers, has been described as a proof that the Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has come to stay in Delta State.
This was the position of the State’s Chairman of ASUSS, Comrade Kenneth Okoh, after the September 28, 2023 Judgement of the Court, in Akwa, under Justice John Tagema, to throw out the quest of the NUT to continue the deduction of check-off-dues of Secondary School Teachers for non- compliance with the terms of settlement, which the NUT in Delta State was a partly and signatory to.
The judgement, Comrade Okoh said, had also shown that, ASUSS is not an illegal Union in Delta State and Nigeria, as it enjoys the recognition of both the government and the Court.
He added that, the deduction of check-off dues by the Delta State Government in favour of ASUSS had again been solidified by the Court, as it was an agreement originally reached by the Government, ASUSS and the NUT as a legal right of the Union (ASUSS).
Going down memory lane, Comrade Okoh disclosed that in 2002, the first judgement to stop the NUT from the deduction of Secondary School teachers check -off-dues was made at the Agbor High Court.
The judgement, he said, was upheld by the Court of Appeal, Benin in 2005, when the NUT went on appeal but unfortunately, up till 2014, the judgement was not implemented by the Delta State Government.
He recalled that, the Delta State Government called for settlement of the matter between ASUSS and NUT, and terms of settlement were reached. The three parties referred to the settlement as consent judgement, entered into at the National Industrial Court, Enugu; Asaba and the Supreme Court as Judgement of the Courts, legally termed, Consent Judgement.
Unfortunately, he said,e instead of abiding by the Consent Judgement, the NUT went to the National Industrial Court, Akwa in 2018 to challenge the Delta State Government’s recognition of ASUSS as a Union for Secondary School teachers in Delta State.
Today, I’m glad that, the Delta State Government and ASUSS have been vindicated on this matter, Comrade okoh added.
