After 110 days of strike, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has said that polytechnic lecturers will not return to their classrooms until the union’s demands are met by the Federal Government.
ASUP made this declaration yesterday after a National Executive Council meeting of the union in Abuja.
The ASUP President, Dr. Chibuzor Asomugha said: “The entire country is worried about the situation. But the Government does not seem to care. The ASUP-NEC has rejected the government’s offer to pay the arrears owed us since 2009, if we call off the strike.
“There is no seriousness on the part of the Government to negotiate any of the issues. Before we suspended the strike in July 2013, Government picked four of the 13 issues from our 2009 agreement and said those issues would be handled in two weeks.
“These four issues include; release of the White paper on Visitation to Federal Polytechnics, the completion of the constitution of the governing councils for federal polytechnics, the migration of the lower cadre on CONTISS 15 salary scale, and the commencement of the Needs Assessment of Nigerian polytechnics.
“Union suspended the strike, and gave Government a one month time frame to resolve these issues. It was not until ASUP resumed its strike in January that the Federal Government commenced Needs Assessment and completed the constitution of the governing councils for federal polytechnics.”
