The staff of the Abia State College of Education Technical Arochukwu (ASCETA), on Monday, staged a peaceful protest over 31 months non-payment of salary.
The staff in their numbers protested at Arochukwu where the College is located, carrying placards with inscriptions like; “Government hear our cry and pay us”.
Speaking to ALL FACTS NEWSPAPER correspondent, the Chairman, ASCETA Mr Kelvin Onyema said;
“We have just finished the part one at Arochukwu where the college is situated. So next week Thursday, we will be coming to Umuahia to do the next protest.”
On why they are protesting he said;
“Its because of the unpaid salary for 31 months; that is the major thing we are protesting for, and non implementation of the salary structure that has been in existence since 2011. So those are the two major issues why we went on protest.”
On how long the protest will last;
“It will continue daily till Thursday (July 29). The grand finale will be on Thursday next week. It started today, will continue to Thursday next week which will be the grand finale in Umuahia.”
On if the college is on a strike action, he said ; “No.
Onyema disclosed that they have issued a warning letter to the management of the College led by Dr Phillips Nto, demanding that their needs be met, else they will embark on an indefinite strike action.
“Yes we have also issued a letter of strike to the management based on the non payment. So if they didn’t pay us for a time now; if our demands are not reached within the time frame, that means strike will commence” he warned.
He prayed the government of Abia state to pay the workers and also give subvention for the school to implement the salary scheme called CONTAD and CONTIDIS.
Meanwhile, the Provost of ASCETA, Dr. Phillip Nto, while reacting to the non payment of salaries to our correspondent, assured that the management was working to ensure that salaries are paid.
” I know we are owing them, and we are making arrangement to pay them, but I cannot ascertain the number of; whether it is 31 but we are owing them.”
On what the management is doing as regards to the threat by ASCETA to continue the protest till next week and possibly embark on strike action if their demands are not met, Dr Nto said;
“ We are are dialoging with them, we are talking with them and they have seen reasons with what we are talking about. You know sometimes hoodlums may be protesting and they say its our staff so since it didn’t happen inside the school, I don’t think its our staff. Our school is peaceful, its calm, everywhere is okay. I am not aware because nobody protested inside the school.
” We are working hard to make sure that their salaries are paid within this period. We are reaching out, we are making arrangements to ensure they are paid.”
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