Workers of The Polytechnic Ibadanon Monday declared strike action following the non-implementation of the minimum wage by the state government.
At a general meeting of academic and non-academic staff convened by a Joint committee of all Staff Unions, it was reiterated that the governing council, and by extension Oyo state government has repeatedly refused to implement the minimum wage for workers in the institution.
The Chairman of SSANIP, Abiodun Abegunde in his opening remarks commended the workers for their steadfastness so far and noted that the issue must be fought to a logical conclusion.
He noted that different efforts have been employed to resolve the impasse to no avail. He noted that the wage structure being demanded by the Unions is even lower than that being enjoyed by sister institutions in other states.
The Chairman of NASU, in his submission, noted that the Governing Council itself was incapacitated by the overreaching activities of the Consultant. He wondered why the management was willing to follow a directive from the NBTE to lock down the school, but unwilling to implement the wage structure approved by the same NBTE
The representative of academic staff, Nurudeen Akinade noted that the activities of the consultant is a clear negation of the edict setting up the institution and asked that such be rejected outrightly. He noted that no form of sabotage would prevent the achievements of the demands.
Workers who spoke at the meeting agreed that they had endured enough and it seemed the state government had taken their patience as cowardice.
A motion for a strike action was thereby moved and seconded. It was emphasized that the strike was total and comprehensive, and no worker is exempted as essential services, till the government accedes to the demands
