Fred Ezeh, Abuja
Health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) have declared ‘No pay, no work’ position as the Federal Government seems adamant over the 15-day ultimatum issued by the union beginning from August 30, over outstanding welfare packages and other issues.
JOHESU in conjunction with the Assembly of Health Professional Associations (AHRA) had threatened to embark on industrial action if the government failed to address their grievances.
President, National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), Dr. Aliyu Sokomba, yesterday, said a verbal invitation has been extended to leaders of the union for a meeting with the representatives of the Federal Government on how to resolve contentious issues that forced the doctors to go on strike.
The meeting, called by Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, is expected to hold at the ministry headquarters in Abuja.
Sokomba told Daily Sun that the meeting was called with the agenda of resolving issues that have been discussed in past meetings with government representatives which led to the recent industrial action by doctors.
He said that National Executive Council (NEC) of NARD had resolved that the strike would continue until all the contentious issues were resolved.
Meanwhile, patients in public hospitals in Nigeria have begun to feel the negative impact of the doctors strike which entered its second day, yesterday.
Some of the patients appealed to the Federal Government to attend to the demands of the doctors to enable them return to hospitals and attend to the health needs of the people. Chairman of JOHESU, Bio Joy Josiah, yesterday, in Abuja, reiterated the resolve of the unions to withdraw their services across the country on the expiration of the ultimatum on September 13, unless the government attends to their demands.
Josiah said government’s indifference to some of the demands of JOHESU was worrisome as they included specific court judgments, collective bargaining agreements and Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs) which have been treated with levity and outright violation for almost a decade.
He accused government of deliberately short-changing JOHESU members in the payment of COVID-19 inducement allowances. According to her, the Ministry of Health ought to redress and supervise the adherence to payment of 40 per cent or 50 per cent COVID-19 special inducement allowances as appropriate to all health workers in isolation centres, the FHIs or other related Health facilities without discrimination bordering on clinical or non-clinical status in accordance with the MoU of April 21, adding that the Federal Ministry of Health admitted at a meeting of July 1, that the payment of 10 per cent was done in error.