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Group drums support for ASUP for declaring indefinite strike

Barely 24 hours that the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics embarked on an indefinite strike, The Education Rights Campaign has declared support for the reasons that led to this industrial action.

Recall that in a press briefing yesterday at Abuja ASUP had embarked on a strike following failure of the government to fulfill past agreements. We recall that a similar failure of government to fulfill agreements it freely entered into was responsible for the recent shutdown of public Universities by ASUU for nearly a year.

In a statement that emanated from the ERC, The Deputy National Coordinator, Ogunjimi isaac and Adaramoye Michael, Acting National Mobilization Officer had jointly noted that

“The ERC fully supports the demands of the striking members of ASUP and call on the government to immediately and unconditional meet their demands.

“We also call on Polytechnic students to support the strike and embark on peaceful mass protests and demonstrations to compel government to meet the demands. We also strongly advice ASUP not to make this strike a sit at home action. Rather they should organise public activities like press campaign, leafletting, public symposia, peaceful protests etc in order to build public support.”

They said ” We wish to affirm that incessant strikes by different categories of workers are signs that shows the Buhari capitalist government has failed. What is urgently needed is to unite all these struggles into a powerful movement that can win demands while simultaneously building a mass workers political alternative to wrest power form the capitalist elite and bring into power a govenment composed by workers, youth and the poor masses and armed with socialist policies. Only such a government can utilize the resources of Nigeria to fund public education and healthcare adequately, guarantee living wage and decent work conditions, thereby putting an end to the legacy of incessant strikes and agitations.”

“We therefore urge the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), as a first step, to call a day of action involving protests and demonstrations to give solidarity to the struggles of striking doctors, polytechnic lecturers, Shoprite workers and judicial workers. Such a day of action can help to compel the government and employers to back down and quickly meet the demands of the striking workers. Such an action can also, especially in a period dominated by sectarian and secessionist agitations, open the way to a united struggle of the entirety of the Nigerian workers by showing an example of solidarity as the cornerstone of the labour movement.”

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