The Union of Academic Staff Association in Sierra Leone, has noticed of a twenty-one day Withholding Services strike for better conditions of service.

The Union in the joint notice stated that it has been in constructive engagements with the public university authorities ie. “Ministry of Technical and Higher Education (MTHE): Ministry of Finance (MoF); Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security (MLESS); Tertiary Education Commission (TEC); Conference of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP) and the Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Higher Education” on welfare issues of grave concern to staff members of the institutions forming UASA.

It said promises were made to address some of the demands involving the payment of promoted staff and severance benefits. However, other welfare issues of concern to staff members have not been addressed.

Among these are:

  1. Issuance of letters of appointment to and upgrade of salaries of staff of Technical Universities and the Freetown Polytechnic to the status of the institutions;
  2. Immediate and full implementation of the 2022-2024 Conditions of Service;
  3. Immediate review of the status of Research and Teaching Assistants;
  4. Immediate payment of the due staff members given headship positions at the Milton Margai Technical University
  5. Hold on the inglementation of new weiterle for pesmotions til the sabling environment is created
  6. Inunediate sipward salary adjustament to reflect the lillowing

58% of the Basic Salary

304 Rent Allowance and

-15% Medical Allowance

  1. Non-payment of internal allowances to staff members of the Ernest Bai Kero University of Science and Technology (EBKUUST) and Milton Margai Technical University (MMTU) for five months now which has brought untold suffering toο colleagues in the institutions.

The UASA said that Irrespective of the several engagements referenced above, there has not been any positive action by the authorities concerned to address them.

It therefore pronounced a Twenty-One Day Withholding Services Notice effective immediately.