Sierra Leone university lecturers suspend strike

The Academic Staff Association of Fourah Bay College (ASA-FBC) has called on its members to return to class with immediate effect. In a meeting held at the Mary Kingsley Auditorium, FBC campus on Monday, all lecturers subscribed to a motion put forward to suspend the industrial action which they had embarked on over pay and conditions. The move followed a meeting summoned on Thursday by the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University, Prof. Jonas Redwood-Sawyerr during which he appealed to the striking lecturers to end their 3-week long action while the administration looked into their concerns with the object to addressing some of them by the end of March. The Thursday meeting had been precipitated by another meeting held on the previous day by ASA-FBC during which an overwhelming majority vote was secured to continue with the strike following a pronouncement by the university’s Finance Director that she could not guarantee payment of the new salary rate for the 2012/2013 academic year. The lecturers had gone on strike to force the university administration to implement a salary package agreed last year and which should be implemented within a three-year period.  The administration had reneged on meeting the second tranche pay rise. In a similar move, lecturers of Njala University have also suspended sit-down strike which started on 8 February for similar reasons. The President of the Academic Staff Association of Njala University, Thurad Senessie told Politico that they agreed to suspend the action because President Ernest Bai Koroma had promised to look into their grievances. Meanwhile, the President of the Academic Staff Association of Milton Margai College of Education and Technology, Gibrilla Thullah says they are continuing with it until their grievances are met. They started their own industrial action last week.