Nigeria Labour Congress Calls FG to End ASUP, COEASU Strike:
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to end the strike embarked upon by some educational institutions in the country.
This is contained in a statement issued by the NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar in Abuja, saying that the congress is concerned with the prolonged strike.
Omar said in the statement that it had led to the disruption of the academic calendar and threatened the education sector.
“It is time for the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) to go back to work.
`The congress is concerned with the prolonged strike; this has led to the disruption of the academic calendar and also threatening the health of education in the sub-sector.
“These negativity are seldom good for the quality of the nation’s education or the image of the country.
“The congress therefore wishes to appeal to the government to end further suffering of students by urgently bringing to an end the protracted strike by members of ASUP and COEASU.
“Government’s serial breach of agreements with the unions, especially in the education sector, has had a telling effect on the well-being of the economy generally and education in particular.
“It is saddening that government is fast acquiring for itself a reputation of a partner that cannot be trusted to keep agreements it voluntarily entered into.”
The congress urged the government to get its priority right by responding to their demands.
“Government should get its priority right by speedily responding to the demands of COEASU and ASUP for the sake of our children.
“The government should also have sympathy for the parents, teachers and save the education system and the nation at large from ultimate collapse,’’ the statement quoted Omar.
It stated that the recent breakdown of talks between the government and the leadership of ASUP was because of the hard-line positions taken by the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike.
The statement noted that the refusal to move any inch in the negotiations to allow for mutual consensus would continue to make the strike linger.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that ASUP embarked on its strike in October 2013, while their counterparts in Colleges of Education commenced similar industrial action in December 2013.
The strike is over the refusal of government to fully implement the 2009 agreement it signed with the unions.
The non-release of a White Paper on the Visitation Panel to Federal Polytechnics is also identified as one of the reasons for the strike.
Others are the non release of funds for the implementation of CONTISS 15 migration and its arrears, alleged discrimination against polytechnic graduates in public service and during job search, among others. (NAN)
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