•The protesting workers
Members of staff of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Ondo State, today, staged a protest against non-payment of the 10 months’ salaries and allowances.
The angry workers under the auspices of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, blocked the main gate of the institution during the protest.
The protesters, who wielded leaves, were chanting solidarity songs against the school and the government, reports The Nation.
They called on the state government to pay all outstanding salaries of their members and implement N35,000 wage award for the polytechnic’s staff in line, with the directives of the federal government.
Speaking on the development, the SSANIP Chairman, Nafiu Okoro, said irregularities in salary payment to the unions’ members had led to the untimely deaths of some workers in the polytechnic.
Okoro disclosed that over 10 months salaries were being owed workers of the state-owned polytechnic, by the institution’s management.
“All non-teaching staff comprising of NASU and SSANIP agreed that the government should pay all our outstanding salaries running to over 10 months.
“The N35,000 wage being paid to workers as palliatives in Ondo State should be extended to the institution,” he said.
The state Commissioner for Education Science and Technology, Mr Femi Agagu, was not available for reaction as his phone rang.
Also, text message sent to him had not been replied to as of the time of filing this report.
