The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Strike

  • Group decries doctors’ threat to go on strike

    Group decries doctors’ threat to go on strike

    The Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI) of Teaching Hospitals/Federal Medical Centres sector has condemned Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) attitude for threatening to embark on strike because the government has agreed to implement agreements and memorandum of understanding it signed with JOHESU/APHA from 2009 to date.

    This was contained in a communiqué issued after its two-day meeting at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba. It was signed by the sector’s Chairman and Secretary, Comrade Olawale Ogundipe and Comrade Ademola Olajire.

    The duo said they do not believe it is NMA’s responsibility to take over the job of the National Salaries Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC) and the Federal Executive Council (FEC) in deciding salary increment for other health workers duly employed by the Federal Government of Nigeria. “This recurrent attitude to us is unnecessary and uncalled for. We advise the NMA to desist from this act in the interest of peace and team work in the health industry,” they noted.

    In the same vein, the Council noted the progress made towards the implementation of the agreements with JOHESU during the nationwide strike embarked upon by the unions last year. SSAUTHRIAI urged the Federal Government to release without further delay other necessary circulars and settle all the issues in dispute to prevent another shut down of health services.

    “We hereby use this medium to call on Mr. President to prevail on the Minister of Health and other agencies of government to implement agreements reached with the unions. After exhaustive deliberations, the council notes the plea that the Federal Government be given five weeks within which to release implementation circular on the subject matter, had expired and we are already in the eighth week since the agreements were signed. We therefore appeal to government to expedite action towards the release of the adjusted CONHESS circular for implementation,” they stated.

    The group also stated that the council in session was intimated with the problem between the MLS in LUTH and the pathologist in which the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) management appeared to be taking sides with the pathologists. Scientists who are management staff (Deputy Directors), who ordinarily should work at the headquarters in LUTH had been posted out to outstations which are a waste of human resources. A thorough review of the situation shows that the LUTH management action concerning the scientists contravened the laws of the land and the scheme of service for the MLS. Council therefore calls on the LUTH management and government to as a matter of urgency, reverse the situation in line with the rule of law.

    The group added: “We have it on good information that the LUTH management is attempting to contract out the laboratories in LUTH funded by tax payer’s money to a private entity. This will be vehemently resisted and by this information, we are calling on the National Assembly to quickly intervene in this matter.”

    The body equally noted the dangerous trend of hate speeches and call for disintegration of the country has continued to increase and should be checked. After thorough discussion and critical evaluation of the situation, council agrees that Nigerians should de-escalate aggressiveness and violence by avoiding hate speeches, and abhor allegiance to groups rather than national interest. “We opined that part of the solution to the problem is for the government to allow the practice of true Federalism as suggested by many eminent Nigerians and governors,” the group said.

  • Varsity workers begin strike

    Varsity workers begin strike

    The non-academic staff unions of Nigerian universities will go on strike from Monday.

    The unions, members of NAAT, NASU, and SSANU, announced the resumption of the strike in a joint statement.

    The statement was signed by the national presidents of NAAT, Sani Sulaimon; NASU, Chris Ani; and SSANU, Samson Ugwoke.

    They workers said they rejected the mode of sharing the recent financial allocation to universities.

    “We wrote a letter to the federal ministry of education to explain the criteria for the allocation and we gave them seven days notice to do the needful. But the date has elapsed without a response from the federal government,” they said.

     

  • ASUP suspends 15-day strike

    ASUP suspends 15-day strike

    The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics ( ASUP ) has suspended its 15 days strike.

    Chairman of the Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, Abeokuta chapter Mr. Kola Abiola, said the union suspended the strike after “we signed a memorandum of understanding with the federal ministry of education and ministry of labour”

    National President of ASUP Usman Dutse, also announced the suspension of the strike during the union’s 14th National Delegates Conference at the Abubakar Tatari Ali Polytechnic, Bauchi State.

    Dutse said the decision to suspend the strike followed the series of meetings held between the leadership of the union and the federal government.

    “The union considered the suspension to give an opportunity for implementation of the content of Memorandum of Settlement and Action, and shall be reviewed according to the timelines outlined in the MoS,” Mr. Dutse said.

    The decision to commence an indefinite strike was the outcome of the National Executive Council meeting of ASUP which held on November 11 at the Kaduna Polytechnic, Kaduna State.

    According to the union, the industrial action followed the failure of the federal government to implement all the agreements it entered with them since 2016.

    Some of the demands included non-implementation of the NEEDS Assessment Report, and shortfalls in personnel releases and withdrawal of allowances.

    Others were non-passage of the amended bill of the Polytechnic Act, alleged infractions in the appointment of rectors, as well as improving the conditions of state-owned institutions.

  • Badoo kills pastor in fresh strike

    Badoo kills pastor in fresh strike

    •Widow, child found unconscious

    A pastor was killed yesterday morning by persons suspected to be Badoo members.

    The incident occurred at Lajo Road, near transformer in Igbogbo-Bayeku.

    The pastor’s widow, Gloria  and 10-month-old baby, Goodness, were said to have been found unconscious.  They were rushed to Ikorodu General Hospital by policemen from Igbogbo Division.

    The attack occurred few hours after acting Police Commissioner Imohimi Edgal met with all stakeholders at the palace of the Ikorodu monarch, Oba Abdulrasheed Shotobi on the menace of ritual killings.

    It was gathered that the assailants smashed the head of the pastor identified as Victor Kanayo with two big stones, which were said to have been found beside him.

    The Nation gathered that the murderers cut the iron bars on the window of the bungalow the family lived in before entering the house.

    This is coming on the heels of several efforts by the police to contain the resurgence of the Badoo killings which died down after massive raids of several shrines in Agbowa and Imota axis suspected to be the base of the cultists.

    According to sources, the pastor and his family were the only ones living in the building because the landlord moved out some months ago as a result of increased insecurity.

    The source said: “The pastor was an easy going person. His wife and child are unconscious as I speak to you. They were rushed the general hospital. The police took them there.”

    Police spokesman Chike Oti, a Superintendent (SP) said some persons have been arrested in connection with the murder.

    He said the police had commenced investigation into the case, adding that the command was digging into the pastor’s past to be sure there was no connection between his past and murder.

    Oti stated that the look into his past was sequel to a human skull tattooed on the deceased’s shoulder, which detectives believe had cultism connotations.

    He said: “Around 7am, at Offin, Igbogbo, Lagos, a suburb of Ikorodu town, one Victor Kanayo, a male person and a pastor was murdered.

    “The command has made a couple of arrests and suspects are being questioned with a view to discover the author of the heinous crime. The Commissioner of Police has also dispatched a team of crack detectives to unravel those behind the murder, dig into the past of the victim and see if there is a correlation between his past and his fate.

    “The issue of his past before he became a born again Christian is of interest to the police because of a human skull tattoo  drawn on his left arm which gives the victim away as one who may have belonged to any of the dreaded cult groups. Investigation into case is ongoing. Findings will be made public as usual by the CP.”

  • Poly lecturers begin indefinite strike

    Academic activities in the nation’s polytechnics will be disrupted from today as members of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) begin an indefinite strike action to press government to meet their demands.

    The union accused the Federal Ministry of Education of treating polytechnic education with levity.

    It accused the ministry of failing to attend a conciliatory meeting called by the Ministry of Labour and Employment aimed at resolving their demands, noting that the ministry only sent a deputy director without a mandate to attend the meeting.

    ASUP National President Usman Y. Dutse said the union was declaring a total and indefinite strike, adding that the government was using endless verification exercises to delay the payment of entitlements of the union’s members.

    He said while the union is not against government carrying out verification exercises, it should not be endless and the exercise should not be used to denied workers their rights.

  • Polytechnic lecturers begin strike on Monday

    Polytechnic lecturers begin strike on Monday

    Academic activities in the nation’s polytechnics will be disrupted from Monday, November 13, 2017 as the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) commence an indefinite strike to press government to meet their demands.

    The union accused the Ministry of Education of  failing to attend a conciliatory meeting called by the Ministry of Labour and Employment aimed at resolving their demands.

    It said the Ministry only sent a deputy director without a mandate to attend the meeting.

    National President of the union, Comrade Usman  Dutse said the union was declaring a total and indefinite strike, adding that the government was using endless verification exercises to delay the payment of entitlements of members of the union.

    He said while the union is not against government carrying out verification exercises, it should not endless and the exercise should not be used to denied workers their rights.

    He said that despite the 21 days notice given to the government, they did not consider it necessary to address their demands for an improved funding of polytechnic education in the country, adding that an additional seven days given to the government has also not yielded any positive result.

    “Our union is constrained to lament again that our sector is on the verge of collapse and needs all the emergency attention it urgently deserves. Until now, it should be noted that the issues raised here today have been there since 2014 and none of these issues has since 2014 been concretely resolved to improve the sector.

    “It is against this background that we wish to remind governments at all levels and indeed all Nigerians that we cannot continue to be complacent in the face of imminent and seemly strategic annihilation of a sector that feeds and caters for millions of youths and families. 

    “A sector that if well harnessed will boost Nigeria’s technological know–how, improve ICT, create millions of employment opportunities and raise the level of both theoretical and practical technological literacy.”

    The polytechnic lecturers are demanding the implementation of the NEEDS assessment report which recommended the injection of N6.5 billion into the polytechnic education in 2014.

    They said the amount has risen to about N8 billion, adding that without Imo,emerging the report, the essence of using tax payers money to embark on the  exercise is wasted.

    They are also demanding passage of the Amendment Bill of the Polytechnics Act, noting that “the delay and indifference to the passage of this bill is viewed as a ploy to fester chaos and continued crises in the sector. Recall that this bill passed through public hearing since December 2016.”

    He said “One wonders why an all important bill such as this still remains unattended to even when assurances have been extracted from the Senate Committee on this bill, our regulatory agencies and ministry of education. 

    “Passing this bill will go a long way to resolving majority of the contending issues in the sector, reduce conflicts, improve on the efficiency levels of the administrative organs and ultimately bring the sector in tune with global best practices. Same bill died with the 6th and 7th assemblies and the current effort is now being threatened to go same way as it is stuck in the Senate since the public hearing in December, 2016.”

    They also want the government to pay the shortfall in Personnel Releases and Withdrawal of Allowances and  emoluments due to cuts in personnel releases which it said  has persisted till date and accused government of “withdrawing allowances which hitherto were part of salaries.”

    “Equally, unpaid arrears of promotions have continued to mount. While verifications of staff have been conducted over and over, only five institutions have received repayment of their 2016 shortfalls. This situation is compounded by the continued penchant of Governing Councils to siphon the meagre internal resources of institutions in order to assuage their unbridled appetite for luxury.”

    They are also not happy with the sorry state of state government owned polytechnics and monotechnics which they said have continued to be in deplorable conditions, with salaries of staff not paid while union officials are victimized.

    Also included in their demand is the Release of CONTISS 15 Migration arrears that has lingered since 2011 when the approval to migrate to the CONTISS 15 salary scale was secured from the government effective 2009.

    “Since then, only the upper cadre has been fully taken care of. Staffs in the lower cadre are being short changed since then as they are yet to get the full benefit of this policy. In response, government continues to set up committees without terminal dates and any meaningful response to the union’s protests.

    “It is worthy to note that a lot of these issues constitute violations of the agreement signed between our union and the government in 2010. This is in tandem with the now well documented penchant of government to renege on agreements. Recently efforts to address these issues led to the convening, on the 24th of October 2017, of a conciliatory meeting by the Federal Ministry of Labour in Abuja. 

    “Curiously, the ministry in eye of the storm (The Federal Ministry of Education) was so poorly represented that no memorandum of action was agreed upon. This clearly showed the level of disdain and disrespect with which issues of the polytechnic sector are being handled by relevant agencies of government.

    “In view of the above, our union rising from this emergency meeting hereby resolved to commence an indefinite and comprehensive strike action effective 13th November, 2017. This action shall be sustained until our demands are met or an implementable memorandum of action is agreed upon by our union and relevant agencies of government.

    “We therefore call on well meaning Nigerians and indeed the public to prevail on the government to do the needful and avoid this imminent shutdown of the sector on an indefinite basis.”

  • Bayelsa labour unions threaten strike over salary stoppage 

    Bayelsa labour unions threaten strike over salary stoppage 

    Local government workers have threatened to embark on strike following the decision of the state government to stop salaries of 4,204 workers indicted for payroll fraud in the local government system.

    The workers, under the auspices of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) asked the government to immediately reverse the decision.

    The government said withholding the salaries was its first major step to stop payroll fraud and implement comprehensive reforms in the state’s civil service.

    The Deputy Governor Rear Admiral John Jonah (rtd) said in Yenagoa that the government seized the salaries of the suspects from the eight local government areas for the month of October, 2017.

    He said that 1, 329 of the affected workers were from the local government areas; 2184 from the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), the primary school education system while 707 from the pension payroll.

    But the unions said yesterday that they stood on their earlier demand that the government should reverse the action or face total shutdown of the local councils and primary healthcare facilities.

    NULGE and MHWUN, in an earlier communique at the end of their joint state executive meeting in Yenagoa, said workers would begin a full strike if the government failed to heed their warning after the ultimatum.

    The communique was signed by State President, NULGE, Akpos Ekiegha; State Chairman, MHWUN, James Adama; State Secretary, NULGE, Peace Chukwu; and State Secretary, MHWUN, Letam Nwibani.

    They directed all their branch executives in the eight LGAs to shut down all health facilities, markets and secretariats of the councils beginning from November 9.

    The unions also called on workers in the eight councils and 32 Rural Development Authorities numbering over 14,000 to come to Yenagoa on Tuesday, November 14, at a venue that would be disclosed, for a mass protest against Chief of Staff Government House, Talford Ongolo, on the streets of Yenagoa and the East West Road.

    The unions kicked against a report of a staff verification by Ongolo,  handed over to the council chairmen through the Ministry of Local Government Administration to stop salaries of  thousands of workers and consequently sack them.

    They described the directive as wicked, unthinkable, ill-informed and coming at a time workers were not paid for a minimum of eight months and a maximum of 18 months.

    They insisted that only the Local Government Service Commission could hire and fire and rejected Ongolo’s ‘fake’ staff verification report.

    The unions called on the chairmen of the councils and Commissioner for Local Government Administration to immediately stop the implementation of the report to avoid serious crisis.

    They asked Governor Seriake Dickson to sack Ongolo, saying he had abandoned his duties at Government House and shown desperation to hijack the LGAs and the functions of LGSC.

    They further alleged that the Chief of Staff was bent on creating confusion, particularly at a time Dickson expressed confidence in the activities of the LGSC that were yielding results.

    They said: ” The state government is hereby given three-day ultimatum from Monday, November 6 to Wednesday, November 8, 2017 within which to reverse the directive.

    ”All LGA workers should resume a full strike after government’s failure to reverse the directive within the three days since the last strike was only suspended.

    But the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Mr. Daniel Iworiso-Markson, stressed that the government would not allow sustenance of the payroll fraud, which had held down the state over the years.

    The commissioner said that innocent persons would not be affected by the measures put in place to check the endemic fraud and diversion of state resources.

    He appealed to genuine workers of the local government areas not to entertain any fear as the exercise was not a witch-hunt.

    According to him, the reforms are designed to fish out and sanction a particular category of unscrupulous persons who acts are harmful to the State’s economic development and wellbeing.

    The commissioner stressed that the painstaking exercise conducted in a most transparent manner, involved leaders of the organized Labour including NULGE and the Nigeria Labour Congress.

    He stressed that NULGE’s attack on the person of the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Talford Ongolo, was nothing different from a surreptitious attempt to armtwist the government to abandon the comprehensive implementation of the reform process in the state.

    He said:  “Let it be clear that the government has the political will to pursue the process of the reforms to a logical conclusion. The Governor of this state decided embark of the reforms to free the state from the grip of a few greedy elements.

    “The process of the reforms has been transparent from the beginning to this movement of implementation.

    “The government is deeply concerned that NULGE and MHWUN are threatening strike over an exercise designed to prevent fraud and to secure the future of generations of Bayelsans.

    “For us, only those who are benefitting from the heinous acts against the state and the Ijaw Nation would come out to attack the reforms.

    “The governor deserves commendation and the support of everybody and not condemnation.

    “NULGE and MHWUN should be wary of being used by those who have lived a life by stealing from the Bayelsa people and to note that the regime of fraud has come to its end.”

  • Workers in Oyo higher institutions begin strike

    Workers in Oyo higher institutions begin strike

    Workers’ unions across Oyo State owned tertiary institutions on Friday began an indefinite strike, demanding the payment of over 15 months salary arrears.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workers shut the gates to the institutions and staged peaceful protest round their various host communities.

    The affected institutions include Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSCATECH), The Ibarapa Polytechnic and The Polytechnic, Ibadan.

    Others are The Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki; The College of Education, Lanlate; and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo.

    Mr Adeniyi Azeez, the Chairman, Joint Action Committee of Trade Unions in all Oyo tertiary institutions, said the strike was inevitable, having explored all other avenues.

    “Our resolution is to embark on indefinite strike after the expiration of the 14-day ultimatum issued to government at its meeting of Oct. 19 at Oke-Ogun Polytechnic,’’ he said.

    Azeez said that the strike was to actualise the payment of the 15 months salary arrears and the restoration of 100 per cent salary payment.

    “The last time we received full salary was December 2015. Since January 2016, we have been receiving 25 per cent salary, which we do call subvention.

    “The state government had since January 2016 reduced subvention to the institutions to 25 per cent, which also reduced the salary to 25 per cent,’’ he said.

    He said that they had lost several of their colleagues due to their inability to manage their health.

    According to him, in the last six years of the Ajimobi-led administration, OYSCATECH has not received any fund for infrastructural development.

    Mr Segun Aderounmu, the ASUP Chairman, Ibarapa Polytechnic, said that they would not return to work until government pays their 15 months salary arrears and 100 per cent subvention to the institution.

    He decried the deduction of 100 per cent tax by the government from the meager 25 per cent subvention to the institutions.

    “It is unfortunate that our members cannot feed, manage their health and pay school fees of their wards.

  • Oyo lecturers embark on indefinite strike

    LECTURERS in stateowned tertiary institutions in Oyo State yesterday commenced an indefinite strike action with protests in various parts of the state. The protest held in Ibadan, Oyo, Saki, Igboora, Eruwa and Lanlate simultaneously. The affected schools are Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology (OYSCATECH); Ibarapa Polytechnic, Eruwa and The Polytechnic Ibadan.  Others are Oke-Ogun Polytechnic, Saki;  College of Education, Lanlate and Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo. The workers who initially gave a 14-day ultimatum to the government said they were embarking on the strike over what they described as slashing of their salaries by 25 percent and the 13 to 15 months’ salary arrears across the various institutions.

    But the government denied owing the workers 13 or 15 months’ salary as claimed by the workers, noting that there was no month that government didn’t release money to the institutions. At the rally, the workers marched from Isokun to Owode junction singing solidarity songs. Vehicular movements from Oyo road to Owode axis were held to a standstill, as trucks, travelers and commuters groaned under heavy traffic gridlock caused by the protesters.

    The staff unions involved in the protests includes the College of Education Academic Staff Union (COESU), Non Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education in Nigeria. Some of the inscriptions on the placards displayed by the protesting workers of the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education (EACOED), Oyo reads: “No pay no work”, “13 months without salary, please bring my money joor”, “Ajimobi don’t you collect salary? Food for thought”, “Pay us our 13 months’ salary arrears”.

    The Chairman of Academic Staff Union, EACOED, Oyo, Comrade Segun Oyewunmi said the workers had given the government enough windows for dialogue but that the government did not take advantage of it. However, Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology in the state, Prof. Adeniyi  Olowofela said the government will do all that is needful for the issue to be resolved as soon as possible. He said: “There is no problem that does exist on earth that does not have solution, I have met with the unions before and as we are meeting with the heads of the tertiary institutions, we are also meeting with the NLC, we know that we will get to an amicable resolution of this imbroglio.

    “The strike will be called off as soon as we resolve the problems. It is always give and take, we will do some and they too will have to agree with us on some. The truth is that there is no month that we don’t give them money, and the claim that we are owing 13 or 14 months salary is not true but then if you lack the capacity to meet your obligations, the government will now look at possibilities of how to help you augment it.”

  • ASUU strike: Not again!

    SIR: The tertiary education sector is sitting on a ticking time bomb. The federal government as of yesterday, Thursday October 26 is yet to honour its Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    I do not believe that the federal government wants ASUU to go on another strike. But if the situation extends beyond the October 31 deadline, then ASUU will very likely go on strike again. The President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, had, while announcing the conditional suspension of the strike, gave the Federal Government until the end of October to fulfil its promises.

    We don’t want another strike, however short it may be. The universities and the students are yet to recover from the last one.  Exams that should have long been concluded are only being rounded up now. Subsequent holidays that are supposed to follow have been shortened. The academic calendar has been disrupted. We can’t afford to have further disruption of our academic calendar. It’s already one disruption, too many.

    Lord knows how many Nigerian students had accidents and others that died on our bad roads when traveling to and from school at the commencement and cancellation of the last ASUU strike. We can’t afford to risk the lives of these students again.

    The federal government has to find a way to institutionalize swift response mechanism to prevent ASUU from going on strike in future. I beseech the federal government to do the needful and avert this impending calamity.

     

    • Adeyemi Ahmed Abiodun,

    Ilorin, Kwara State.