By John Ikani
The Academic Staff Union of the Polytechnics (ASUP) on Wednesday, declared a two-week warning strike starting from Monday, May 16.
ASUP disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, released after its emergency meeting of the Union’s National Executive Council.
President of the union, Anderson Ezeibe in the statement, blamed the decision on the refusal of the Federal Government to meet ASUP’s demands.
Recall that ASUP suspended its industrial action declared on the 6th of April 2021 on the 10th of June, 2021 following the signing of a Memorandum of Action (MoA) with the government.
The signed MoA contained a clear path to a sustainable resolution of the issues in dispute with timelines attached to each of the items in dispute.
Among the contentious issues are the non-release of the approved revitalisation fund for the sector, non-release of arrears of the new minimum wage, non-release of the reviewed normative instruments for the institution/management and programmes accreditation.
The alleged sustained infractions in implementation of the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics Act as amended, is also an issue.
Other demands include the delay in the appointment of reactors, non-release of the scheme of service for polytechnics, continued victimisation of union officers, among others.
Ezeibe called on the public to prevail on the government to do the needful within the two weeks period so as to avoid an indefinite shut down of the sector.
