Academic activities remained suspended at the Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, ACE, following the four weeks warning strike action embarked upon by the National leadership of the College of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU.
Following the development, the college chapter of COEASU issued a threat to the government stating that another warning strike would be imminent after the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum if the government failed to meet their demands.
The warning was necessary after the Federal Government’s response to COEASU’s 21-day ultimatum to address lingering and new industrial concerns impacting union members, according to COEASU leadership in the school, who noted that the Federal Government had not done so.
Adetokunboh Adepoju and Joel Edafe, the union’s chairman and secretary, respectively, issued and signed a statement pledging not to resume academic activities until all local and national issues have been resolved by the government.
The union’s leadership reportedly highlighted that the government’s failure to address the concerns made by the Colleges of Education lecturers demonstrated the insensitivity of the administration to matters involving the development of the country’s teacher education sector.
According to the union, the federal government had refused to form its own team and begin renegotiation of the FGN-COEASU 2010 Agreement despite the union’s repeated requests, which should have addressed among other things, the obnoxious tax regime on staff consolidated salary which includes allowances as opposed to basic salary, and capturing in the annual budget the peculiar earned allowance.
They also mentioned several local concerns that had already been brought up with the college administration, such as the four-month salary arrears for academic staff hired in 2019 as well as responsibility allowances for HODs, deans, and directors, among other things.
The union, however, said that “in the light of the foregoing, our chapter will not resume academic activities until all national and local issues are resolved.”
