The Management of the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), has called on its striking members of staff to have a rethink on their planned attacks on academic staff and also abide by the orders of the National Industrial Court which directed them to maintain peace on the campuses of the Polytechnic while their case against the Lagos State Government and the Polytechnic management goes through the full process of adjudication.
The Management made this call in reaction to an audio recording making rounds in which an on-air personality was alleged to be inciting the non-academic staff against the academic staff members who have been working to ensure that the academic calendar is not truncated so that innocent students will graduate as scheduled and the finalists are mobilised for the compulsory National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) exercise.
In the same vein, the management of the institution in a release signed by the Deputy Registrar, Information and Public Affairs, Olanrewaju K. Kuye, advised the members of staff who are on strike to respect the freedom of association and allow the academic staff members and other willing staff to continue their primary assignments without any form of molestation or harassment.
“The management wishes to state that, Mr Salami Gbenga the only academic staff amongst the striking few that parades himself as the Vice Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has ceased to be an executive of the academic union owing to the dissolution of the union executive in 2017, hence he is advised to stop indulging and instigating the non- academic staff against his colleagues or working in alliance with others for the same purpose.
“The striking members of staff are admonished to listen to wise counsels, embrace dialogue and wait for the outcome of the Head of Service, Lagos State House of Assembly and National Industrial Court to conclude their efforts at proffering lasting solution to the crisis of CONTISS 15 Migration,” the statement said.
Kuye explained further that, “It would be recalled that the agitation for the implementation of Consolidated Tertiary Institution Salary Structure (CONTISS 15) migration by the non-academic staff unions is an issue that NASU and SSANIP have been using since 2016 to foment troubles in the Polytechnic.
“CONTISS 15 migration is the movement of staff from one salary grade level to the next level provided the staff meets the necessary conditions stipulated by the NBTE such as: such staff must have been employed before 1st August 2009; such staff must possess the basic academic/professional or both qualifications applicable to his/her competence in addition to compliance to Institutional policy; such staff must have spent a minimum of two (2) years on the current position before the year of migration.
“The Polytechnic acted on the Lagos State Executive Council’s directive in line with the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) Guidelines. All staff that met these requirements have been duly migrated while those that failed to meet the same requirements were appropriately placed.
“The grouse of the unions was that they wanted the Management to migrate all staff with no recourse to the NBTE Guidelines and approval of the state Government simply because some of the union leaders did not meet the requirements.
“Management hereby assures all students, staff and the general public that adequate measures have been put in place to ensure that the three (3) Campuses of the Polytechnic remain serene, peaceful and conducive for the smooth running of all academic and administrative activities in all the three campuses.
While we pray that the few striking members of the Polytechnic would allow His Excellency, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwoolu- the Executive Governor of Lagos State to settle down for work in peace, it should also be noted that insistence by these few workers on self-help through intimidation, threats and incitement against the law abiding staff would be curtailed by adequate measures of caution as permitted by the law,” he concluded.