The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP), Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) in Ondo State chapter, said they lost 50 members over irregular payment of salaries.

The unions stated this after a joint meeting at the institution in Owo on Tuesday.

Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, SSANIP Chairman, Nafiu Okoro, said irregular salary payment to the unions’ members had caused a lot of havoc to the lives of workers in the polytechnic.

Okoro explained that over 10 months salaries were being owed workers by the institution’s management.

He said: “All non-teaching staff, comprising NASU and SSANIP agreed that government should pay all our outstanding salaries running to over 10 months.

“That N35,000 being paid to workers as palliatives in Ondo State should be extended to institutions.

“Also, management should pay all the deductions of our cooperative societies. These form parts of our resolutions.

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“The situation here is pathetic. I want to inform you that we have lost over 50 staff as a result of irregularities in salary payment since few years ago. In this year, three staff died on the same day.”

He said the two unions have passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of Dr Olubunmi Omoniyi-led Governing Council of the institution.

Okoro alleged that several millions of naira were siphoned by the council when the institution’s staff were not paid.

He added: “We are being paid percentage of our salaries and being owed for many months while the council is spending bogus amount of money on sitting allowances, quarterly allowances and Christmas bonus when the staff are wallowing in abject poverty.

“We are going home in empty stomachs, particularly in this Yuletide which is a celebration of gifts. But we have nothing to take home to our families.

“It has become unbearable. We are now awake. We want to take destiny in our hands. Government should bail us out of this quagmire. We are tired and we are suffering.

“For us to bury three of our staff in a day this year is threatening. The way we are losing our members is terrible  because there is no food, no access to medical care.”

The SSANIP chairman said the two unions had resolved to embark on indefinite strike starting from January 2, 2024, if the workers’ salaries were not fully paid.

“We suspended our strike due to plea from the management and the Governing Council and they promised us but they have failed us and we are closing the polytechnic’s gates on January 2, 2024, if our salaries are not all paid. It’s going to be a total strike,” Okoro said.

Responding, the Public Relations Officer of the polytechnic, Samuel Ojo, described the unions’ agitation as normal.

Ojo urged the unions to bring their grievances to the institution’s management for negotiation and discussion.

The Star