From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Federal Government has commenced the renegotiation of agreements reached with polytechnic based labour Unions, notably, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and Senior Staff Association (SSANU) in 2010.
At the first meeting in Abuja, on Wednesday, the representatives of all the concerned labour Unions were present, except for NASU that was absent, and they renewed their commitment to the renegotiation to ensure durable industrial peace in the polytechnics.
Chairman of renegotiation committee Alhaji Waziri Bulama told reporters that the essence of the renegotiation team was to review contents of the agreements with the Unions, adopt the ones that are still relevant and make new introductions where necessary.
He solicited the support and understanding of all parties involved in the renegotiation to ensure that expected success is achieved within the time frame provided for the exercise.
He assured the labour Unions that the federal government will be committed to the implementation of the agreements reached with all parties in the interest of polytechnic education sector.
ASUP President Anderson Ezeibe said in his remarks that the renegotiation is long overdue, given the fact that the agreements were reached in 2010, and many changes might have been recorded in the economy and several others areas.
He said the renegotiation will cover the areas of funding, conditions of service, dichotomy and several others areas, expressing hope that the government will be sincere enough to honor the decisions that would be taken in the cause of the renegotiation.
‘It’s a collective bargaining process that we have engaged in this exercise. We are concerned about what might have happened in the past. We believe and hope that government will “surprise” us this time by not allowing us to shut down the institutions in protest before honoring the agreements,’ he said.