Protest Rocks Ekowe Polytechnic Over Poor Staff Welfare in Bayelsa

The joint leadership of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Federal Polytechnic of Ekowe Chapter, has called on the management of the institution to resolve lingering issues associated with the delay in the implementation of their incremental step adjustment.

In a statement issued shortly after a peaceful protest at the liaison office of the institution in Yenagoa, chairperson of SSANIP, Ebikaboere Torulagha and chairman of NASU, Etebu Ebifiye, the association noted that since the issue was not resolved at the end of April 2023, the step increment and promotion implementation for the 2024 budget has been affected.

The unions further said that they are also disappointed by frequent request from management, asking the unions to incur travel cost for staff and secretarial expenses on behalf of the institution, insisting that the various unions have collectively resolved not to bear further expenses on behalf of the institution.

The protesting workers also requested that the pay slip of the institution should be provided to staff on a monthly basis to
ensure transparency and accountability as failure to do so will lead to a sit at home action by the unions without further notification.

The statement read “we are disappointed that our incremental step adjustment has not been
implemented since January 2023, despite our efforts to bring this to your attention, nothing has been done to rectify the issue.

“It has also come to our attention that if this issue is not resolved by the end of April 2023, our step increment and promotion implementation for the 2024 budget will be affected. We therefore urge you to take necessary actions to make changes on the IPPIS portal.

“We are dissatisfied with the way Management is handling promotion
implementation despite all promises made by Management towards staff welfare. Nothing has come to effect. This is unacceptable and we urge you to take immediate action.

“We are calling your attention on the frequent request by Management for unions to incur travel and secretarial expenses on behalf of the institution for the payment of staff promotion arrears and others, which has become an unwarranted precedence that started from 2018 to 2022 and the implementation of 2021/2022 promotion.

“Going forward the unions have collectively resolved not to bear further expenses on behalf of the institution. It is Management
responsibility to ensure that staff welfare is adequately addressed.

“Finally, we request that our pay slip be provided to staff on a monthly basis to
ensure transparency and accountability as it is done elsewhere. We urge you to take these issues seriously and take immediate actions to address them. Failure to do so will lead to a sit at home action by the unions without
further communication.”

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