The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has resolved to embark on an indefinite strike from 6th April following what the union described as unresolved issues between its members and the federal and some state governments.
Reading a communique at the end of the National Executive Council meeting of the union held in Katsina, the ASUP President, Comrade Anderson Ezeibe listed the issues in contention to include failure to implement the 2014 NEEDS Assessment Report on government-owned Polytechnics and the non-implementation of 65 years retirement age for academic staff in some state-owned polytechnics.
Comrade Ezeibe also cited the non-payment of 10 months minimum wage arrears owed ASUP members in federal Polytechnics, failure of some state governments to implement the New Minimum Wage for its members, and the non-payment of staff salaries in Abia, Ogun, Osun, Plateau, Benue, Edo and Cross River states.
Other outstanding issues as contained in the communique include the non-payment of promotion arrears in federal Polytechnics and non-payment of annual increments in some states.
The union also called for the immediate reconstitution of governing councils for federal and state-owned polytechnics where there are none, and full implementation of the provisions of the Federal Polytechnics Act as well as its domestication in Adamawa, Sokoto, Niger and other non-compliant states.
ASUP directed its members nationwide to prepare for a full scale industrial action come April 6th unless these demands are met.
DOCTORS THREATEN STRIKE
The National Association of Resident Doctors says the families of frontline doctors, who died of COVID-19, have been abandoned despite five hundred billion naira released by the Federal Government last year for the COVID-19 response.
The National President of NARD, Dr Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, said this during an interview with newsmen.
The NARD President, which is the umbrella body for all doctors undergoing residency training, said at least Seventeen of its members had died of COVID-19 while their families were not given any insurance claim.
Dr Okhuaihesuyi, noted that the body would be embarking on an indefinite strike beginning from the end of this month.
The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, had, at a news briefing on April 4, 2020, said the Federal Government was working with stakeholders to structure medical and life insurance for health workers involved in the war against COVID-19 in Nigeria.
