Picture shows RUGIPO council members after meeting with Unions of the institution in Akure on Friday.
Workers under the aegis of Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) at the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic (RUGIPO), Owo, Ondo State, say they are yet to call off the indefinite strike action embarked upon last week.
News had filtered in on Friday, October 22, barely one week after embarking on the strike that the Unions have called off the strike after meeting with RUGIPO Council members led by its Chairman, Mr Banji Alabi in Akure.
Below is the communique from the Akure meeting:
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But the Unions in a statement signed and made available to The Precision NG on Friday evening by its leaders, Comrade Adebayo Obayoriade (NASU) and Comrade Chris Olowolade (SSANIP), said the decision from the meeting was misconstrued.
They said the strike action was a function of a Congress and that for it to be called off, the Congress must debate it.
“The Unions wish to put the record straight that the Congress holds the final decision to suspend any strike action,” the statement read.
Read below the statement from the Unions:
THE TRUE POSITION OF THE MEETING WHICH NASU AND SSANIP HELD WITH THE GOVERNING COUNCIL OF THE INSTITUTION TODAY 22ND OCTOBER, 2021 IN AKURE.
The Unions wish to reemphasize that communique issued at the end of the meeting is not a true reflection of the suspension of the ongoing strike action as may be insinuated by some members of staff and the general public.
It is to be noted that the Unions hold its members and their welfare in high esteem, which can never be traded nor trivialized. Hence, the last line of the communique should be given the expected reverence and supremacy.
The Unions wish to put the record straight that the congress holds the final decision to suspend any strike action.
In synopsis, the indefinite strike action subsists until otherwise decided by the almighty congress.
Arising from the above, the Unions hereby strongly discountenance and repudiate the purported social media report by the Public Relations Officer and Protocol (P.R.O&P)of the Institution, Mr Ojo Samuel on calling off the strike with immediate effect.
The last line of the communique which reads “that all resolutions reached will be communicated to the Congress by the Union leaders” should not be debased but must be given the deserved premium.
This is not inconsistent with the fact that the Executive Council of the Unions must recourse to the congress before any decision could be binding and remain permanently potent.
On a final note, the Unions wish to stress that the entire workforce of the Institution and all well meaning Nigerians should disregard the social media report, news from any quarter and treat it as nebulous that the ongoing strike action embarked upon by both Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) of the Institution remains valid, as the congress is yet to receive the report of the meeting which the Unions held with the Governing Council of the Institution on 22nd October, 2021, Akure.
E-SIGNED:
NASU CHAIRMAN – COM. OBAYORIADE ADEBAYO
SSANIP CHAIRMAN – COM. CHRIS OLOWOLADE
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