The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics (SSANIP) of the Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO) chapters said 50 of their members had died over irregular payment of salaries.

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

Speaking to journalists after the meeting of SSANIP, Nafiu Okoro said irregular salary payments to the union members had caused a lot of havoc to the lives of workers in the polytechnic.

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

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

According to him, the two unions have passed a vote of no confidence in the leadership of the Olubunmi Omoniyi-led governing council of the institution.

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

“We are being paid a percentage of our salaries and being owed for many months while the council is spending bogus amounts of money on sitting allowances, quarterly allowances and Christmas bonuses when the staff are wallowing in abject poverty,” said Mr Okoro.

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

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

Mr Okoro urged the state to release funds to the school’s management to offset the salaries, saying that the state government should be sensitive to the agony and yearning of the polytechnic’s workers.

The SSANIP chairman said that the union was happy that the polytechnic had been approved for upgrading to university status, asking the state government to ensure that the polytechnic’s workers also transitioned to university workers.

Similarly, the chairman of NASU, Gbenga Aro, explained that the two unions were on the same page of resolutions, representing non-teaching staff of the polytechnic.

Mr Aro said it was disheartening and worrisome that the workers’ dues and benefits were not given to them despite their crucial roles in the institution.

“We have met and resolved in brevity that unless all the backlog of our salaries is paid, we are going to close down this institution by embarking on our suspended strike by January 1, 2024,” he said.

Mr Aro stated that upgrading the polytechnic to a university should be done by migrating the polytechnic’s staff to be staff of the university.

The institution’s spokesman, Samuel Ojo, described the unions’ agitation as normal.

He asked the unions to bring their grievances to the institution’s management for negotiation and discussion.

Mr Ojo, who said two wrongs would not make a right, asked for proper dialogue between unions and the polytechnic’s management for the common good of all.

(NAN)