STRIKING WORKERS THREATHEN FASHOLA'S RE-ELECTION

The four week-old industrial action by staff unions in four Lagos State tertiary institutions took a new dimension as they threatened to vote against Governor Babatunde Fashola in 2011 polls for failing to implement their demands.
Union leaders at a protest rally organized by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), LASU chapter warned Fashola and his political team of the political consequences of not meeting their demands before the 2011 elections.
Former chairman of SSANU, UNILAG chapter, Prince Oriwaye Adefolalu, said Fashola should be called to order and if he fails to retrace his steps, staff unions, students and doctors who are also on strike would not vote for him during 2011 election.

He urged the staff unions in Lagos State not to relax until their demands are meant but asked the workers to use their political weapon to vote out the present administration noting that because of the crisis, a week national strike is in progress nationwide.

The chairman of SSANU, LASU chapter, Funmi Sessi, asked Fashola to heed the voice of the striking workers or face the political consequences in the 2011 poll while insisting that the demands of the workers were their rights warning that “the struggle has just started”.
Sessi carpeted the claim by Fashola that resources are limited to meet their demands and warned him that he is joking with the vote of workers of the state tertiary institutions and possibly, those of the striking doctors.

The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Lagos State Polytechnic (LASPOTECH), Mr. Olatunji Arowolo, was more categorical as he asked striking workers in the four government owned tertiary institutions and the medical doctors not to vote for Governor Fashola in the 2011 polls.
He warned the governor that the Joint Action Committee (JAC) coordinating the activities of the striking workers would mobilize their members and possibly the medical doctors to use their votes against the administration, noting that these institutions are nothing to write home about as they lack facilities.
The chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), LASU chapter, Dr. Kabir Akinyemi, said the protest rally is to ensure that the state government implements the agreement and urged the staff unions to stand firm in the struggle.

The Chairman, Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education (AOCOED), Mr. Adeyemi Adesanya, described the demands of the workers as a just one and that the agreement signed by the Federal Government/COEASU is binding on state institutions and Fashola was part of the Council of State.
Adesanya warned against intimidation by the government and asked the workers to vote wisely in 2011 polls while the Chairman of National Association of Academic Technologist (NAAT), LASU branch, Mr. Adekunle Adenuga, said the gathering was to tell the world that staff unions in the state are being oppressed.