Gbolagade Sunday
The Oyo State Government has described the industrial actions of The Polytechnic, Ibadan Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) as unjustified and unfounded. Press Council on 11th January, 2021 earlier reported about the commencement of their indefinite strike and the closure of the institutions gates which jeopardized the examination slated to hold for the HND1& ND2 from FENG, FFMS and FSC. All these actions of the labour Union are attributed to their demand for the implementation of the New Minimum Wage and also the Removal of the Platinum Consultant.
However, the State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology; Barrister Olasunkanmi Olaleye, while speaking on Fresh 109.5 FM in a live program on Monday 11th January 2021, he explained that the government entered into an agreement with all tertiary institutions in the state, based on the last discussion reached with governing councils of all tertiary institutions in the state, the state government is set to sign the agreement before the week runs out.
“Well, I must let you know that the strike action is not justifiable anywhere, there is no basis for it to be candid, and I will tell you why. The government directed the governing council of each school and we engaged them on discussion over the issue of minimum wage, and as at December 2020, all other tertiary institutions have agreed with us on the issue of minimum wage.
Any moment from now, we are going to sign the agreement hopefully before the end of this week January, 2021. It is only The Polytechnic, Ibadan that disagreed, and their disagreement was not based on any law or circular, The Commissioner said.

He also added, In actual fact, what the state government has proposed to them is in line with the circular of the national salaries and wages commission but the team that led their negotiation came with a table of Lagos state.
So, they said we should adopt Lagos state table as the basis for the minimum wage, and we told them that we can only go by the provisions of the law the circular from the federal government which all other schools accepted except the polytechnic of Ibadan”.
I want to advise you go to them if they have any document to back up their position, let them present it to you and let them show it if their position is in line with the national minimum wage Acts and the federal government circular on the consolidated salaries of the tertiary institutions, let them show it to you.
So, it is not justified, and again, at 5am this morning, the Institutions Union locked up the gate of the school even before the congress of the union, you know the union is supposed to give them the directive to either go on strike or not but without waiting for the union, some members just went ahead and locked up the school gates and prevent students from writing their exams which they commenced last year.
However, we will still continue to engage them to let them see reason. As at the time all of us should be on way for Christmas on the 24th, we still held meeting with them here with the council members and the management.
And we asked them, and that was the last discussion we had, that if you have any circular to back up your claim, give it to us, let us look at it, but the next thing we heard this morning was they have embarked on strike.
What is the justification for that? So, lets see how things go but we will continue to engage them. The commissioner explained.
However, when asked if the state government was ready to shift ground in order to quickly end the strike, the commissioner stated the state government is always opened to discussion with the school governing council and its management team. He concluded

On the other hand, the management of The Polytechnic, Ibadan have appealed to both the Academic and Non-Academic Staff of the institution to kindly sheath their sword and give room for dialogue between both parties.
According to reports by Todaysplash.com, it was stated that A press released signed by the Registrar of the institution reads; The Authorities of the Polytechnic, Ibadan (TPI) have appealed to the workers who commenced an indefinite action today to return to work and pave way for further negotiations. This strike action is premature and will inflict a lot of damages on the activities of the institution, most especially the ongoing first semester examination which had suffered series of postponement. Also, the management wishes to appeal to the striking workers to return to negotiation table with the government as the strike action would only put more strain on the activities of the institution.
We want to appeal to the Unions to unlock all the gates leading to the institution as there are a lot of Stakeholders who will suffer from this action.
Many Stakeholders with intent to visit the institution for transactions will not be able to gain access into the institution while Staff that reside within the institution and their families will also suffer untold hardship.
The health facilities, by this action will also not be available to the staff, most especially those that reside within the institution.
This strike action by all ramifications may be counterproductive and thus, further negotiations should be explored.