Another strike looms in LAUTECH - Tribune
ANOTHER industrial action looms in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso, as the institution’s academic staff on the platform of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has begun offering skeletal services by invoking the “No pay, No work” principle.
Chairperson, ASUU, LAUTECH branch, Dr. Biodun Olaniran, who disclosed this to Tribune Online, on Tuesday, pointed to breaches in the agreement the union reached with the university’s management in February 2017, especially noting the accumulation of salaries arrears of seven and a half months.
It would be recalled that the union had in February called off a seven months strike following the release of N584 million by the two owner state governments of Oyo and Osun to clear two months of the outstanding salaries owed to staff.
Olaniran said the breach of the Memorandum of Understanding was in the accumulation of arrears of unpaid salaries since the release of N584million as last payments.
This is just as he prayed for the release of the report of the visitation panel chaired by Chief Wole Olanipekun, set up to provide lasting recommendations on resolving the recurrent LAUTECH crisis.
“We had some breaches in the agreement with the university management. The issues are the accumulation of salaries, that is salaries are not paid as at when due. Currently, we have not been paid half February, March and April 2017 salary, as well as the backlog of salaries from August to December 2016. This brings us to a total of seven and a half months of arrears.”
“So, our position on non-payment of salaries is No pay, No work. We are not on strike; we still do skeletal work like seminars, coordinating Ph.D./Masters exams, projects.”
“The last payment we received was the N292 million given by each of the two owner state governments to settle two out of seven months already owed the staff as of then.”
“Presently, the spirit and content of that agreement have substantially been breached. Accumulation of arrears of unpaid salaries has continued unabated. The government has refused to make the report of the panel public.”
“Our union, therefore, is left with no option but to invoke the provisions of No Pay No work while the process for the resumption of our suspended full-blown strike is on-going.”
“Members of the public should prevail on the governments of Oyo and Osun to live up to their responsibility to prevent another round of industrial crisis,” Olaniran said.
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