The meeting between the Federal Government and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities on Thursday ended in a deadlock.
It was the second meeting that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, held with the striking university workers in an attempt to resolve the issues at play.
At the beginning of the meeting, Ngige said the industrial action was illegal and unknown to labour laws.
The striking university workers said the government failed to address their critical demands, which included unpaid earned allowances of members, delisting of members from the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System and arrears of the new minimum wage.
The joint action committee of SSANU and NASU had on Friday last week directed all their members to down tools pending when these demands are met.