Barring any last minute change, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic(ASUP) will embark on an indefinite strike action on December 12, 2018.
Speaking during a telephone interview with the Union’s general secretary, Mr. Anderson Ezeibe, stated that the federal government has failed to fulfill its agreement with the union following many meetings.
He explained that the Union during its strike in November last year, after series of meetings held between the union’s leadership and the federal government had suspended their strike action, adding that government has done nothing to buy their trust.
“It is the resolution of the last meeting we held. We are going on strike for the same old issue which is the violation of agreement. We went on strike November last year. We suspended that strike after we signed a Memorandum of Settlement and Action with the government. The issue is that of the things we signed, a lot of them have timelines for implementation.
“ As we speak, none of the items, eight of them, have been implemented. Our allowances are still held. In Abia State Polytechnic, they are being owed for 11 months. So how do you continue to work under this condition?,” he queried. Ezeibe stated that the strike action was based on their conviction and the issue they have on ground and not in anyway aimed at joining striking ASUU.
“We are going on strike based on our own conviction, based on our own issue. We think that we have given the government enough time to act. We met with the government in October and they appealed for time, and we gave them till the end of November and by the end of November, nothing has happened,” he said.
Recall that the union went on an industrial action November, last year following the failure of the federal government to implement all the agreements it entered with them since 2016.
Some of the demands included non-implementation of the NEEDS Assessment Report, and shortfalls in personnel releases and withdrawal of allowances.
Others were non-passage of the amended bill of the Polytechnic Act, alleged infractions in the appointment of rectors, as well as improving the conditions of state-owned institutions.
