Toscad News 
The federal government has returned to the table to continue negotiations with the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
Tuesday’s meeting is the second of its kind since the union started a one-month strike 3 weeks ago. ASUU say they want better working conditions, the revitalisation of public universities, and university autonomy, among other demands.
At the meeting, ASUU representatives said they were no longer interested in signing a memorandum of understanding but wants previous agreements to be implemented.
Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment, expressed confidence that the standoff will be addressed.
Both parties disputed on who is causing the delay in the implementation of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), ASUU’s chosen payroll system.
Ngige accused the union of prolonging the process of establishing areas of harmonisation with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), though ASUU claimed that NITDA was unprepared for them.
Disagreement over the payment system is one of the main factors cited by academics as the impetus for the present strike. -FRCN
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