The shutdown of Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe in Bayelsa by Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) has persisted for nine days following a face-off between workers and management of the institution over deductions of union dues.
Union leaders said that the institution would remain under lock until the Rector and Governing Council Chairman are removed to pave way for the face-off to be resolved.
NASU had on July 11 shut down the institution over withheld June salary and non-remmittance of four months union dues of its members.
The News Aɠency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the aggrieved workers locked up the institution’s liaison office in Yenagoa, the main campus at Ekowe and the residence of the Rector in Yenagoa.
The management of the polytechnic on Thursday released the withheld June salary of NASU members but failed to remit outstanding union dues.
The Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe chapter of NASU vowed that the institution would remain under locks until the check-off dues dispute is resolved.
Mr Etebu Ebifiye, NASU Chairman, in the polytechnic told NAN that the non-remmittance of union dues by the management was a breach of labour laws and a threat to industrial harmony.
According to him, the non deduction and remittance of union dues from members’ salaries was an existential threat to NASU at the polytechnic located on the bank of River Nun in Southern Ijaws Local Government Area of Bayelsa.
Ebifiye said that the rector directed the payment of the withheld salary without remitting check-off dues for June in addition to January, February, March ænd April 2025 which triggered an industrial action in the institution.
He explained that although the Rector had called for truce to end the industrial action, only a reversal of the four months check-off dues and removal of the Rector will make the workers shift grounds and unlock the institution.
“We have been occupying the polytechnic’s liaison office in Yenagoa since July 11. The Rector had tried in vain to use force to disperse us by making a false report that we are vandalising the Polythecnic’s facilities.
“Armed security men in four vans came to forcefully open the gates but when they saw no sign of vandalism, they left. We cannot resort to vandalising property left in our care. It is our property and we are poised to protect and not vandalise.
“We have occupied this place and kept vigil here and until the check-off dues is restored, we go nowhere. The Rector has called me and I told him our stand. We are waiting for him to act and we unlock the gates,” the labour leader said.
Ebifiye noted that NASU members were tacitly denied promotion as their appraisal forms were not endorsed.
He said: “The rector is not worker-friendly, he has demonstrated that he lacks capacity to run the institution, what he did is an attempt to kill the union and we will not succumb to his whims and caprices, we shall ensure that we fight till he is removed from office.
“He directed all the Heads of Departments and the Deans that NASU members should not be appraised, a decision that affects the career progress of hundreds of our members
“As long as NASU members are excluded from the promotion , we will make sure that the promotion exercise doesn’t hold here,” Ebifiye said. .
However, in his reaction, Mr Nimizuo Pereseigha, Public Relations Officer of Federal Polytechnic, Ekowe said that the management remains committed to peaceful resolution of the dispute through dialogue.
He explained that NASU leadership has been rebuffing moves by management to discuss and resolve the labour crisis.
“The management got reports from the workforce that some workers have their union dues remitted to unions they do not belong to. Some workers also got upgraded for instance from non academic to academic cadre and their union dues still go to NASU whereas they now belong to Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics ASUP).
“To resolve this the management asked the three unions we have here to have their members update their membership status and endorse consent forms.
“Out of three unions, ASUP, NASU and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP), ASUP and SSANIP complied and submitted consent forms to validate their memberships but NASU refused to comply.
“Consequently, management deducted union dues for the two unions that regularised the status of their members and for NASU members, 100 per cent of their salaries were paid without deduction of the two per cent union dues,” Pereseigha said.
On the alleged exclusion of NASU members from promotion, Pereseigha said that while the NASU members were on strike, the members of other unions completed and submitted their performance assessment forms only to turn back to blame the Rector, Dr Lukman Adegoke for a process concluded while they were on strike.
Pereseigha noted that the management as part of efforts to resolve the dispute has asked NASU members to fill and submit their appraisal forms to participate in the promotion exercise but they have yet to respond.
The Public Relations Officer said that a reconciliation meeting has been scheduled to hold on Sunday evening to chart a way out of the crisis.
NAN
