Cross River State College of Health begins strike over suspension of salary structure

The Cross River College of Health Technology has embarked on an indefinite strike over suspension of Consolidated Polytechnics, Colleges of Education and Academic Salary Structures.

In that regard, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) were embarking on the strike over suspension of the Implementation of the Consolidated Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Academic Salaries structure (CONPCASS) and Consolidated Tertiary Education Institutions Salary Structure (CONTEDISS) since November, 2019.

Chairman of ASUP, College of Health Technology, Calabar chapter, Okon Etim, said the unions had gone on a two-weeks warning strike, which ended on March 2 this year, yet the state government had refused to reverse the suspended salary structure.

He wondered why the structure that was implemented only in 2018 for the colleges was suspended after a year when other Federal Government Colleges implemented theirs since 2011.

He said all efforts and appeal to get the state government to correct the abnormally proves abortive, saying, “We are here to express our displeasure for the kind of treatment that some government officials have meted to this school.

“The issue at stake is that of selected treatment, the issue has been forceful withdrawal of the salary structure of this college. We have two salary structures for the college being CONPCASS for academic staff and CONTEDISS for non-academic staff.

“A committee was set up by the state government to look into all this abnormally and the new minimum wage structure, but to our surprise, our salary structure was removed.”

Also speaking, Deputy National Secretary of SSANIP, Emmanuel Enyiegor added, “We hardly go on strike in this college because we produce health professionals whose examinations are regulated by the West African Health Examination Council.

“When dates for this examinations are fixed, if we go on strike, the students will miss the examination and will not have the opportunity to write them again until a year after when they would have done another fresh registration.”

He however, appealed to the state government to look into the matter by giving the workers their dues.