Students again in limbo as LASPOTECH workers go on third strike in 2017

Academic and administrative activities were paralysed on Wednesday at the Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH) after workers of the institution embarked on an indefinite strike.

A copy of the strike notice by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnic (ASUP), LASPOTECH chapter, obtained by NAN said the strike was with effect from August 1.

The notice said the strike would “remain indefinite, total and comprehensive until the demands of the unions were met”.

The strike also affected other sister unions of ASUP — the Non-Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (NASUP) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnic (SSANIP).

Yet another strike

This is the third industrial action the workers will be embarking on this year alone.

The union went on a one-week strike in January and a subsequent month long industrial action in April over the school “management’s unwillingness to honour its agreement to the lecturers”.

That strike was called off in June.

According to NAN, the notice of the new strike said the unions blamed their decision on the institution’s management failure to meet their demands despite giving a month’s grace.

The notice said the Lagos state government had intervened in the strike by the unions through the house of assembly committee on education and that was why it was suspended.

“Congress had unanimously resolved that the committee that was to be set up by the House Committee on Education to find a lasting solution to the issues of migration arrears be given till 31st July 2017. Failure of which the union will resume its suspended strike without notice.

“It is rather sad to inform you that after the committee has identified substantial amount to pay 12 months as the first tranche, the management turned in a document from National Board of Technical Education (NBTE) to truncate an already laid process for payment.”

According to the notice, the same authentic documents which the union presented to the press on the migration arrears are the same the management now mischievously flaunt to foot-drag and frustrate all resolutions on the payment.

“The flaunted documents, if allowed to fly, will cause more harm than good, it is going to affect us all from number one person to the least cleaner and this we have warned them about.

“As it stands, dear comrades, if by 12 midnight, the 12 months arrears in the first tranche is not paid, the strike will resume on Aug. 1; it is indefinite, total and comprehensive,” it said.

Management sues for patience, further dialogue

Oluwasola Erinoso, the deputy head, public relations unit, LASPOTECH, confirmed that the strike had commenced.

Erinoso said that while the strike was suspended a month ago following the intervention of the house committee on education, an in-house committee to proffer a solution was set-up.

He said the in-house committee comprised of members of the house committee on education, the management team and the union members.

Erinoso said talk was still ongoing on how to pay the outstanding arrears and the process for the payment before the union resumed the strike on August 1.

He, however, appealed to the unions to go back to dialogue with the management so that all the outstanding issues would be resolved and normalcy restored in the institution.