THE Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has begun an indefinite strike to protest the federal government’s failure to implement various agreements reached with the union in the past.

This is coming just over a month after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) commenced its own strike on November 4.

National President of ASUP, Usman Dutse, made this known on Wednesday, adding that the government has invited representatives of the union to a meeting on December 17. He said the union has set up committees in their various chapters across the federation to monitor compliance to the industrial action.

Dutse pointed out that a 21-day ultimatum issued by ASUP to the federal government on October 2, elapsed since November but the Union did not embark on the strike immediately.

“We have zonal coordinators and a monitoring team, zone by zone, all over the country. Already from the report we are getting, we are satisfied with the level of compliance from all our zones but we are reviewing the day’s activity in a meeting now”, Dutse said.

The ASUP National Chairman had on December 5, informed journalists that the union will be kicking-off the strike on Wednesday, December 12, as “government has failed to implement and fulfil agreements it reached with the union as contained in the memorandum of understanding signed”.

Among other things, Dutse complained that “the institutions are not funded. The states are even worse because state governments just establish schools without actually funding those schools. So, no infrastructure is in place.”

“We have states that are owing about 14-month salaries. Some owe eight months. Benue, Ogun, Osun, Edo, Kogi are owing up to as long as 14 months,” he said.

The last industrial action by ASUP was in November 2017, but following prompt action by the federal government and the agreement to implement the recommendations of the 2014 NEEDS assessment, the strike was suspended 15 days after.