The Federal Polytechnic, Ekeowe, Bayelsa State has decried the hardline posture of the striking members of the Non Academic Staff Union, (NASU) of the institution.
The NASU chapter of the school has been on strike since 11th July, shutting down both the main campus, the liaison office in Yenagoa and the rector’s official residence.
The bone of contention is alleged deduction of union dues by the school management without remitting same to the union and witholding of their June salaries.
However, even as the rector has approved the payment of the witheld June salaries, NASU is now insisting that the rector and chairman of the Governing Council should be removed to pave way for the resolution of the crsis in the institution.
Mr Etebu Ebifiye, NASU Chairman, in the polytechnic had stressed that the non-remmittance of union dues by the management was a breach of labour laws and a threat to industrial harmony.
Ebifiye said that the rector directed the payment of the withheld salary without remitting check-off dues for June in addition to January, February, March ænd April 2025 which triggered an industrial action in the institution.
He explained that although the rector had called for truce to end the industrial action, only a reversal of the four months check-off dues and removal of the rector will make the workers shift grounds and unlock the institution.
“We have been occupying the polytechnic’s liaison office in Yenagoa since July 11. The Rector had tried in vain to use force to disperse us by making a false report that we are vandalising the Polythecnic’s facilities.
“Armed security men in four vans came to forcefully open the gates but when they saw no sign of vandalism, the left. We cannot resort to vandalising property left in our care. It is our property and we are poised to protect and not vandalise.
“We have occupied this place and kept vigil here and until the check-off dues is restored, we go nowhere. The Rector has called me and I told him our stand. We are waiting for him to act and we unlock the gates,” the labour leader said.
Ebifiye noted that NASU members were tacitly denied promotion as their appraisal forms were not endorsed.
He said: “The rector is not worker-friendly, he has demonstrated that he lacks capacity to run the institution, what he did is an attempt to kill the union and we will not succumb to his whims and caprices, we shall ensure that we fight till he is removed from office.
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“He directed all the Heads of Departments and the Deans that NASU members should not be appraised, a decision that affects the career progress of hundreds of our members
“As long as NASU members are excluded from the promotion , we will make sure that the promotion exercise doesn’t hold here,” Ebifiye said. .
However, Mr Nimizuo Pereseigha, Public Relations Officer of the institution has pleaded with the union to shift ground saying their hardline posture will not move the institution forward.
The PRO said that the management remains committed to peaceful resolution of the dispute through dialogue.
He explained that NASU leadership has been rebuffing moves by management to discuss and resolve the labour crisis.
“The management got reports from the workforce that some workers have their union dues remitted to unions they do not belong to. Some workers also got upgraded for instance from non academic to academic cadre and their union dues still go to NASU whereas they now belong to Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics ASUP).
“To resolve this the management asked the three unions we have here to have their members update their membership status and endorse consent forms.
“Out of three unions, ASUP, NASU and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), ASUP and SSANIP complied and submitted consent forms to validate their memberships but NASU refused to comply.
“Consequently, management deducted union dues for the two unions that regularised the status of their members and for NASU members, 100 per cent of their salaries were paid without deduction of the two per cent union dues,” Pereseigha said.
On the alleged exclusion of NASU members from promotion, Pereseigha said that while the NASU members were on strike, the members of other unions completed and submitted their performance assessment forms only to turn back to blame the Rector, Dr Lukman Adegoke for a process concluded while they were on strike.
Pereseigha noted that the management as part of efforts to resolve the dispute has asked NASU members to fill and submit their appraisal forms to participate in the promotion exercise but they have yet to respond.
The Public Relations Officer said that management will mot relent in seeking ways out of the crisis.
