Staff members of the Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, in Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State, under the aegis of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), on Friday. commenced a seven-day warning strike with a protest walk around the school premises to press for their demands.
The workers, who began the protest after a brief congress held at the institution’s TETFund auditorium, expressed disappointment over management’s poor handling of their demands which they noted include non-payment of 38 per cent balance of salary shortfall, non-payment of promotion arrears, and forceful conversion of staffs among others.
Rising from the congress, the protesters matched to the Rector’s Office, displaying placards and chanting solidarity songs, while calling for full implementation of their demands
Some of the inscriptions on the placards read, ‘SSANIP says no to unnecessary transfer of members’, ‘No to forceful conversion of staffs’, ‘Pay us our 38 per cent balance salary shortfall (2016–2018)’, ‘Pay us our correct salary placement arrears (2015-2018)’ and other demands.
Speaking while addressing the protesters, the Chairman of SSANIP, Federal Polytechnic, Ukana chapter, Mr Tamunosiki Daka, said they were not out to fight anybody but to demand for their welfare.
He expressed disappointment that the management has been turning deaf ears to all issues of the association, including the personnel salaries shortfalls since 2015 despite frequent reminders.
“Please let it be on record that, I, the chairman of the SSANIP Federal Polytechnic, Ukana, is not fighting anybody, I was not elected to fight anybody, I was not elected to look into the affairs of anybody outside that of SSANIP.
“SSANIP welfare is my topmost priority and how can we talk about welfare without them giving us our arrears of what they owe us. Over the years from 2015-date, we have been crying about salary shortfalls and they think we don’t know what we are doing. We made a case for this issue when the visitation panel came here and they promised to get back to us but up to date, nothing has happened.
“We have met the management but they did not give any concrete reason for us not to go on this strike; we wrote the acting Rector but she did not attend to us until the present Rector, Dr Uduak Ndaeyo, now attended to us, but even at that, no concrete answer was given to us.
“Nothing to hold back to the congress and now congress said our ultimatum of 7 days stands and the rules of engagement is that before you embark on any industrial action you must inform management 21 days, 14 days, and seven days of which we have done.
“We have been begging for the past six months. How would you tell me that appointing a teaching staff to the position of ICT is the right decision? By Monday, no office will be opened in this place, we are going to shut down every office, including that of the Rector,” Daka threatened.
He also called on President Bola Tinubu to use his good office to investigate the personnel salaries of the institution from 2015.
He said, “We want to call on the President to investigate all personnel salaries from 2015-date when we migrated to the IPPIS platform because they are claiming that they paid us all the shortfalls to 100% but up to now no one has seen anything.”
It was reported that despite taking the protest to the Rector’s office and addressing the protesters there, the rector did not come out or send a representative.
