KAYODE ADELOWOKAN
The Council of Academic Staff Union of Osun State-Owned
Tertiary Institution (CASUOSTI) has re-instated its decision not to call off
the union’s industrial strike action over the state government’s failure to
honour its agreement on the full payment of CONPCASS since November 23, 2011.
Speaking during the
Council’s press briefing at the NUJ Press Centre in Osogbo on Monday, CASUOSTI’s Chairman, Comrade Olusegun Onifade, said
the issues between the union and the state government did not require any
further negotiation and neither could any individual mandate its members to go
back to work until its demands were granted.
It will be recalled that the union embarked on the indefinite
strike seven weeks ago.
“We sympathize with parents, guardians and, indeed, our
students in these institutions. We wish to let the whole world know that their
continued stay at home with all the concomitant negative implications are not
to be blamed on us; rather, it should be heaped on the insensitive and
nonchalant inclination of the government of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola,” he
said.
Onifade further accused the state government of not remitting
its deductions for contributory pension scheme.
According to him, “the state government is reneging on the
already approved 65 years retirement age for academic staff; adoption of new
federal tax regime that does not respect federal salary structure; gross
understaffing in almost all academic units/departments of the institutions and failure
to honour the agreement on the full payment of CONPCASS since November 23, 2011,”
he added.
Onifade, who added that agreement had been reached on all
the issues, mentioned that the implementation of the contributory pension
scheme started from May, 2010 and its members’ shares of the contributions
(7.5%) were regularly deducted from their salaries.
He, however, said that government had never played its
part.
“We are not happy; the state government has not fulfilled
her contributions to the scheme, despite that the pension acts stipulate that
the government’s contribution to the pensions of employees in the public
service shall be a first line charge
on the consolidated revenue funds of the state.
“It is highly disheartening that the state government has embarked
on fraudulent acts in the administration of the contributory pension scheme. It
will amaze you that certain percentages are deducted from our monthly salaries,
but are not remitted to our respective Retirement Saving Accounts (RSA). This is, indeed, fraudulent and
ungodly.
“We must ask the government of what they have been doing
with our money. Non- remittance of the money within a period of seven days
after the payment of salaries is against the Pension Act.
If they cannot pay their own percentage of the
contribution, why must they misappropriate staff’s deductions? Is this how it
is done in other states’ tertiary institutions? Is this our own concept of
Omoluabi?
“If it is true that our Governor behaves in the credo of Omoluabi
that he preaches every day, let him fulfill the agreement signed with us
and consider the interests of parents and students who elected him as the
Governor of this state.
He maintained that the government, up until now, had not
fulfilled other requirements for the full implementation of the pension scheme,
including life assurance and bonding, as contained in the Act.
“Our members hold this issue of pension very seriously
because if not well-managed, it may mean that our investments into the service
of the state will be in vain; hence, it may create some problems upon our
retirement. Thus, if this issue is not resolved totally, the industrial unrest
will persist.”
On the 65 years of retirement age, Onifade said Aregbesola had earlier approved the extension of
retirement age of academic staff from 60 to 65, as approved by the
National Assembly.
“This was communicated to the institutions via a circular
dated June 29, 2012 with reference number HESM & T/371/148 and signed by
Mr. T.A AJioye of the office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of
Education. Can we, therefore, say that the governor is inconsistent in his
administration?
“We must state clearly that we will resist any move by the
state government to withdraw the circular and implementation of the national
policy, which has been in operation in other institutions in the country.
“The state government that has refused to pay our full
salaries is charging federal tax, which has further made a mess of what is paid
as salaries. Our members have waited for so long for this to be corrected
without any positive action by the government.
He lamented that the four tertiary institutions are
seriously under-staffed in almost all the academic units, thereby making
members to carry excess workload resulting in ill-heath, stress and sometimes
death of members.
He added that series of letters had been written
culminating in issuance of ultimatum, warning and strike actions before it
eventually embarked on the indefinite strike seven weeks ago.
He added that while it had expected the government to find
solutions to the issues at stake, it, however, embarked on activities that were
inimical to the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
