Health workers begin national strike - Lagos sacks 788 doctors

[DT]

Operations of public hospitals will be crippled around the country starting from today as health workers' unions declare an indefinite strike to demand parity in wages with doctors and dentists.

The Joint Health Sector Unions comprise pharmacists, nurses, midwives, medical technologists, senior staff of university teaching hospitals and research institutes, as well as non-academic staff of educational institutions. They declared the strike in Abuja yesterday after talks to resolve their grievances with the Federal Ministry of Health collapsed.

Among the union's demands are reversal of decision not to skip CONHESS 10 in salary structure, sorting out "grey areas" in the National Health Bill considered "inimical" to professionals other than doctors and dentists, restoration of allowances for consultants and specialists and call duty and shift allowances.

They also want a review of retirement age for health workers, provision for eight union members to be on management board of teaching and tertiary hospitals, and promotion for qualified health workers up to CONHESS 15, the equivalent of Grade Level 17.

JOHESU said in a statement that the health sector continued to face major problems because "the powers that be have always discriminated and continue to discriminate between members of the Nigerian Medical Association on one hand and all other health professional associations on the other."

Olukayode Faniran, coordinator of JOHESU, who also heads the Nigerian Union of Pharmacists, Medical Technologists and Professions allied to Medicine, told Daily Trust: "This discrimination tendency in the Ministry of Health should be removed, and the current minister (Onyebuchi Chukwu) is actually doing a lot to add more to the disharmony in the health sector instead of solving it."

There was no immediate comment from the health ministry yesterday.

The strike, which comes after a 15-day ultimatum from JOHESU expired yesterday, follows a three-day warning strike in December.

Lagos fires striking doctors

The announcement of the health workers strike came hours after the Lagos state government fired 788 doctors in its employ who had been on strike since April 24.

A dismissal letter dated May 4, 2012 was issued to each of the doctors yesterday accusing them of misconduct to wit absence on duty without leave or reasonable cause.

A statement by Head of Service Adesegun Ogunlewe said, "A total of 788 doctors in the Lagos State Public Service were Monday sacked by the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital Board and the State's Health Service Commission (HSC) following an illegal strike embarked upon by the doctors since April 16, 2012."

He said the doctors were sacked because of their refusal "to answer to queries issued to them to explain why they were absent from work without leave and without the due observance of the rules and regulations guiding strikes and industrial actions in the State's Public Service."

He said 316 of the fired doctors were working with the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital while the remaining 472 were from other hospitals in the state.

Ogunlewe announced the employment of 373 doctors for immediate deployment in the public hospitals "while recruitment continues."

Responding to the sack notice, Chairman of the Medical Guild, Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, described it as a confirmation of the government's insensitivity and insincerity to resolve the issues.

"Yes, it is true that we have been sacked but we have resolved to go to court," he said

As at the time of filing this report, the affected doctors were holding a meeting at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital with the NMA to determine their next line of action.

The doctors embarked on a three-day warning strike last month but resumed work, only to proceed on an indefinite strike on April 24, after they were summoned to a disciplinary panel for participating in the warning strike.

The doctors, under the aegis of the Medical Guild, are pressing for the downward review of taxes and the full implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS).


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Daily Trust