Auchi Poly unions begin strike over N1.8bn debt

ACADEMIC and other activities at the Federal Polytechnic, Auchi, Edo State, were on Monday paralysed following the commencement of an indefinite strike by members of the unions.

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (NASUP) all protested the alleged failure of the management to enrol them on CONTISS (Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Scale) 15 Migration Salary Structure, and non-payment of N1.8 billion owed the unions.

The chairman of ASUP, Mr Justin Momodu, said that members of the union would not return to work until their demands were met.

He said: “We are on indefinite strike because the polytechnic management has refused to negotiate with us. We have resolved that we will not return to the classrooms until all our demands are met.”

Speaking also, the chairman of the polytechnic’s chapter of SSANIP, Mr Godwin Ikhide, said the polytechnic’s management had been paying workers from welfare savings and union dues, which were deducted from their salaries.

Ikhide said the union could no longer access loans from its purse because of the huge amounts already borrowed from the union’s account by the school’s management.

“Members of our union cannot access loan due to the school management owing us N1.8 billion,” he said.

But while reacting to the development, the Public Relations Officer of the institution, Mr Mustapha Oshiobugie, said the polytechnic management could no longer fund the CONTISS 15 Migration salaries.

Oshiobugie said that the polytechnic had been using its internally generated revenue to fund workers’ salaries, and that it could no longer sustain it.

He said: “Management has nothing against CONTISS 15 Migration. The problem is that migration is not approved by the Salaries and Wages Commission, and because there is no approval for that migration, salaries are not funded by the Federal Government.

“We put the union on notice that by January if government is not funding it, we would have no other option than to stop or suspend the payment.”

He acknowledged the amount being owed the unions, but said the money was used to offset their salaries.

“When you now say the school owes you N1.8 billion, how? The money you are talking about was used to pay their salaries on an agreement between the two sides. It is like you have eaten your cake, and you want it at the same time.”