Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) threatens to go on strike if Federal government fails to implement their agreements after the expiration of one month utumatum given.
It called on the federal government to respect the gentleman agreement reached with the union by implementing all promises made or face industrial action
It maintained that the gentleman agreement is binding as that was the bases for which they suspended the industrial action earlier embarked on.
ASUP Chairman, Kaduna Chapter, Mohammed Mohammed, made this known at a press conference held in Kaduna after Congress meeting, on Thursday, 5th, May, 2022.
He warned that the federal government inaction to their plights will leave the union with no choice, other than to tow the language they understand , which is ‘strike’.
Mohammed Lamented the current predicaments, adding that the strike has become inevitable since what they are demanding for is for the betterment of the students and nation at large.
The union asserted that the 30days window given is an opportunity for the government to do the needful.
Among the demands of the union are the implementation of the Needs Assessment Report of 2014 and reconstitution of governing councils of polytechnics.
Others are the implementation of the ASUP/FG agreement of 2010, and payment of salaries and arrears of the new minimum wage in some state-owned polytechnics.
Comrade Mohammed giving an insight to the crisis.
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“You may recall that between 6th of April 2021 and 10th of June 2021, the Union withdrew her services from campuses of public Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in the country in an initial 2 weeks industrial action which was rolled over to an indefinite strike action.
The key items of dispute includes absence of Governing Councils as well as non-setting up of visitation panels for Federal Polytechnics in the country, non-implementation of the report of NEEDS ASSESSMENT of Public Polytechnics and Colleges of Technology in the country.
The union argued that despite the
ASUP/FGN Rapid Responses Committee which was set up as a monitoring vehicle to ensure the full implementation of demands as well as address other emergent issue, critical aspects of the memorandum of action remain unimplemented, several appeals and correspondences by the union not withstanding.
The government is not giving listening ear as such many of their demands are yet to be met. It emphasized.
“The ASUP/FGN Rapid Responses Committee was set up as a monitoring vehicle to ensure the full implementation of the items set in process as well as addresses any other emergent issue. On this basis, the industrial action was suspended for 3 months.
However, critical aspects of the memorandum of action remains unimplemented despite several appeals and correspondences. These items still pending includes:
- Non release of arrears of the new minimum wage: The new minimum wage ACT has been in implementation since April 2019, with further directive by the President of the nation that staff of ALL Ministries, departments and agencies of the government should be paid the accrued amounts by December 31st, 2019. The government has reneged in this as the arrears accruing to staff of Federal Polytechnics remain unpaid more than 2 years after the expiration of the President’s directive and nearly 3 years after implementation. As we speak, our members are still owed for 10 months. As a consequence, the government has continued to withhold portions of the legitimate emoluments of members of our union without their consent.
- Non-release of Promotion arrears for 2019, 2020 and 2021
- Sustained infractions in implementation of the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics Act as amended in 2019: Following the signing into law of the Federal Polytechnics’ ACT as amended in n2019, implementers of the ACT including the Federal Ministry of Education, National Board for Technical Education, some Governing Councils as well as Managements of Polytechnics have developed the habit of observing some provisions in breac
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