ASUP Resolves To Continue Strike

“We have been compromising since 2013.”
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The National Executive Council of the Academic
Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP, has resolved to
continue its nine months old strike pending the
outcome its meeting with the Senate Committee on
Education on July 1.
Chibuzor Asumogha, the President of the union,
made the statement in an interview with the News
Agency of Nigeria at the end of ASUPs 77th
National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Lagos.
He said that a meeting of the committee and some
education stakeholders scheduled for June 24 did
not hold because no government official came.
“That meeting was supposed to be held, resolution
reached, and agreement signed.
“It was against the backdrop that we fixed the NEC
meeting so that, if we have the resolutions, we will
come here and suspend the strike.
“Incidentally, none of the government official came
for the meeting and because of that the meeting
did not hold,’’ he said.
The official said that the committee deferred the
meeting to July 1.
Mr. Asumogha said the union resolved to continue
the strike until the parties would be able to arrive at
a mutual understanding.
“This is the position of the NEC; we are meeting
again next Tuesday,” he said.
“We have been compromising since 2013. We have
continued to agree to suspend the strike but at
each point government always bridged the
agreement,” he said.
He appealed to the parents and students to
continue to be patient and support the union to
achieve its goals.
“The thing we are saying is that government should
be committed. When is it going to offset the arrears
of the salary scale CONTISS 15 it is owing since
2009?’’ he asked.
ASUP embarked on an indefinite strike in October
2013 to press home its demand for improvement in
the condition of service and infrastructure in
government-owned polytechnics, monotechnics
and colleges of technology.
It also demands that the Federal Government
should remove dichotomy between HND and degree
holders.
Other demands include the release of the White
Paper on the NEEDS assessment of polytechnics
and review of the Polytechnic Act by the National
Assembly, among others.
The government has met some of the demands,
including inauguration of governing councils and
setting up of the NEEDS assessment committees.
(NAN)
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