- Strike threatens forthcoming full time exams
By Gabriel Dike
Academic activities at Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) have been grounded following an indefinite strike at the weekend by the lecturers.
The industrial action which is coming less than one week after the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) five-day warning strike is aimed at ensuring the college management address the demands of the lecturers.
Daily Sun gathered that the strike by ASUP members in YABATECH started Friday afternoon as the lecturers stayed away from the day’s remaining lectures.
YABATECH lecturers began the strike to protets the college management’s non payment of allowances that sholud have been paid along with their January salaries. The contentious allowances include union dues, field trip allowance, cooperative dues among others.
The striking ASUP members also accused the college management of illegal deductions from their salaries and non-payment of approved allowances.
Attempt by the college management to stave off the strike failed on Wednesday as the meeting summoned by the Rector, Dr. Margaret Ladipo with ASUP officials did not yield positive result.
‘’The college management knew that after the national strike, there will be local strike by ASUP YABATECH members. The meeting on Wednesday between the management and union leaders ended in a deadlock as both sides refused to shift ground’’, said a senior staff that attended the parley.
According to her, ASUP officials at the meeting stuck to congress resolution that the strike will start on Friday if the college management failed to address the demands.
ASUP YABATECH branch chairman, Mr. Adeyemi Aromolaran confirmed the strike and that it would be on until the demands are met by the college management.
Aromolaran recalled that the management met with the chairmen of the three unions last and the Rector, Dr. Ladipo informed them of a directive from the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, to stop paying allowances from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), noting that when the union leaders confronted her, she could not provide proof of the directive.
Investigations by Daily Sun indicate that the indefinite strike did not affect the on-going part time exams but might disrupt the full time exams starting February 28.
In July 2016, the three staff unions in the college embarked on indefinite strike to protest the non payment of the allowances due to short fall from government salary allocation.