Polytechnic workers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) have threatened to resume the strike action it had suspended in 2021 if the government does not honor agreements entered with the union.
ASUP’s national president, Anderson Uzeibe, made the disclosure at the end of its 102nd National Executive Council meeting, saying the decision became necessary after the government failed to implement important aspects of the memorandum of action signed with the union nine months ago.
According to Uzeibe, the government was yet to release the sum of N15 billion as the first tranche of the N800 billion revitalization fund nine months after the approval by President Muhammadu Buhari.
He listed other issues to include, the nonpayment of outstanding arrears of minimum wage, non-release of reviewed normative instruments for institutions, management and accreditation, breach of the provisions of the Federal Polytechnic Act as amended in 2019 and delay in the appointment of rectors.
Uzeibe warned that so long as the government and other proprietors in the polytechnic system continue to violate laws and signed agreements, the union would not hesitate to embark on industrial actions as it had become the most potent way for workers to pressurize the government.
By this, the union said it has given the government a one-month ultimatum to address the outstanding issues, and failure to do so would amount to resuming the suspended strike.
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