Accra, July 1, GNA - The Conference of Polytechnic Principals (COPP) has urged the National Council of Tertiary Education (NCTE) to convene an emergency meeting of all Chairmen of Polytechnic Governing Councils and the (COPP) to address the adverse effects of strikes by employees of Polytechnics.

The employees constitute members of the Polytechnic Teachers' Association of Ghana (POTAG) and members of Teachers and Educational Workers' Union (TEWU) of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). A letter issued by COPP to NCTE enumerated some of the adverse effects as, unsanitary conditions in the institutions as a result of non-clearance of garbage and bushy environment, which could result in an outbreak of an epidemic.

It said, some Polytechnics spend huge sums of money on daily basis to engage casual labourers per week on sanitation, adding that some spend as much as nine million cedis per week to clear the mess and that cost have not been budgeted.

Furthermore, the continuous stay on campus by students without attending lecturers has resulted in the Polytechnics spending huge sums of money on electricity and water bills.

As a result, the letter stated, "it is increasingly difficult to enforce discipline due to the fact that students are not attending lectures".

In view of that, it appealed to government to give mandate to both Standing Joint Negotiation Committee and COPP to enable them to resume negotiation with POTAG and TEWU.

Meanwhile, Polytechnic Administrators have in a press statement threatened to withdraw their services if conditions at the Polytechnics are not addressed.

About six weeks ago, POTAG and TEWU undertook a strike action to press government to give the mandate for the completion of negotiations on Collective Bargaining Agreement, which expired in 2001. POTAG and TEWU viewed this situation as a deliberate government effort not to address their grievances.