The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Tuesday said the union would no longer sign a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government.
This, they said while demanding action on past agreements at its second meeting with FG, since the union declared a one-month warning strike three weeks ago.
The academics are seeking improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and university autonomy among other demands.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, expressed optimism that the impasse will be resolved.
Both parties disagreed on who is delaying the evaluation process for the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS), ASUU’s preferred payroll system.
While the Minister said the union is delaying the process of finalizing with the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) on areas where harmonization is needed, the academics insisted that NITDA was unprepared for them.
Disagreement over a payroll system is one critical factor that the academics have listed for embarking on the latest strike.