By Victor Ahiuma-Young
WORKERS of  Delta State Polytechnics and Colleges of Education, yesterday made good their threat to begin an definite industrial action to force government to adopt and implement the Consolidated Tertiary Educational Institutions Salary Structure, CONTEDISS.

The workers are demanding the payment of 36 months monetization arrears accrued to the state Colleges of Education and Polytechnics as well as the immediate stoppage of the Contributory Pension Fund,  CPF, pending when the affected workers have chosen their Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs, among others.

Vanguard gathered that the decision to embark on the indefinite strike action was reached at the joint executive meeting of leaders of  the Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education, Nigeria,  SSUCOEN; Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Polytechnics, SSANIP and the Non-Academic Staff Union  of Educational and Associated Institutions,  NASU, in Asaba, the state capital.

Leaders of SSUCOEN, SSANIP and NASU of the three state-owned Colleges of Education and the three state-owned Polytechnics, who had earlier issued a 21-day ultimatum to Delta State government, to address their demands, said they had no other option, but to embark on the strike to press home their demands.

Vanguard gathered that the notice of the indefinite strike action  was contained in a letter titled “Re: Adoption and Implementation of the Consolidated  Tertiary Educational Institutions Salary Structure, CONTEDISS, addressed to the State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan  through the Commissioner for Higher Education.

In the letter jointly signed by the Chairmen and Secretaries of SSUCOEN, SSANIP and NASU in the state owned Colleges of Education and Polytechnics, the unions expressed displeasure that the state government had not responded positively  to the issue of adoption and implementation of the new salary structure (CONTEDISS) and their other legitimate demands in their pervious letters to the government dated April 22, 2010 and June 1, 2010 respectively.

“Consequently, the unions have no other option than to declare a trade dispute by embarking on an indefinite strike effective from June 23, 2010”, members of the joint Unions said in the letter dated June 22, 2010.