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Health workers begin nationwide indefinite strike

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2 weeks ago

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Health workers begin nationwide indefinite strike

Health workers on Thursday commenced an indefinite industrial action over salary and sundry issues.
Specifically, the Joint Health Sector Unions/Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) said the strike is as a result of the failure of the Federal Government to adjust the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) among other demands.

They directed all their members to stay away from work with immediate effect pending the resolution of the issues at stake.

JOHESU/AHPA is a conglomerate of four registered trade unions comprising Medical and Health workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institution(NASU).
Declaring the indefinite strike Thursday in Abuja, the Vice Chairman of JOHESU, Dr Ogbonna Chimela, said, “Consequent upon the nonchalant, bias and lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Ministry of Health against JOHESU members and the resolution of the expanded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the unions held on Monday 8th, May 2023, our members in Federal Health Institutions nationwide are hereby directed to withdraw their services indefinitely commencing from 00.00 hour on Thursday 25th May 2023.”

The unions on May 9 through a letter to the Federal Ministry of Health gave the government a 15-day ultimatum to meet their demands.
Ogbonna gave the issues in dispute as adjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS; payment of peculiar allowances to health workers; immediate and unconditional implementation of the Consultant Cadre circular for pharmacists in all all federal health institutions; payment of withheld salaries of members in Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Owerri, Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) and outstanding April and May 2018 salaries of members in Federal Medical Centre, Azare; as well as payment of health workers excluded in payment of wage new hazard allowances.
He said the mode of payment of all health workers in Nigeria is Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) while Physicians are on the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).

He said, “As at 2009, the Memorandum of Understanding at the inception of these two salary structures and subsequent Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Federal Government and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) established strongly that once there is an adjustment in any of the salary structure, the other structure should be adjusted commensurately.”

The unions called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately approve and implement the technical committee report on the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

The unions also called on the National Assembly – Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect to facilitate only the appointment of seasoned administrators and managers of cognate experience as ministers in charge of the health sector.

 

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Era of lip service is over, NARD  warns Tinubu, insists on 200% salary increase

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5 days ago

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June 5, 2023

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Era of lip service is over, NARD  warns Tinubu, insists on 200% salary increase

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to declare a state of emergency in the health sector to address the menacing brain drain.

It noted that while most doctors are competent and patriotic, the poor working environment, welfare, insecurity, among others, pushed many to seek greener pastures abroad.

The union insisted on at least a 200 per cent increment in the basic salary of its members, with the additional allowances, as contained in the letter it sent to the Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health on July 7, 2022.

The NARD expressed shock over the recent increase in the prices of petroleum products, following the removal of subsidy, saying this would propel an increased inflation rate and cost of living.
The union urged the government to put measures in place to cushion the effect of subsidy removal on poor Nigerians.

The doctors expressed their concern in a statement they issued after their union’s ordinary general meeting in Lagos.

The statement by NARD President, Dr. Emeka Orji, reads: “We call on the President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to, as a matter of urgency, declare a state of emergency in the Nigerian health sector as the era of paying lip service to the monster called ‘brain drain’ should be over.

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“We urge the government to set up a high-powered panel to review and harmonise the reports from the former President Obasanjo Health Agenda for Nigeria Committee and the former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo-led Health Sector Reform Committee in order to generate a plan of action in the Health sector for the President Tinubu-led administration.

“We insist on the demand for at least 200 per cent increment in the CONMESS salary structure and the associated allowances, as contained in our letter to the government, dated July 7, 2022. We have resolved to give the new government some time to quickly resolve this issue which is at the root of the current spate of massive brain drain in the sector.”

NARD added: “We call on Governors Adedapo Abiodun of Ogun State, Alex Otti of Abia State, Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq of Kwara State and the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) to urgently look into the situation in the Health sector in their states since these are capable of breaking down the industrial peace in their states.

“We call on the management of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) and the Lagos State Governor to discontinue the demand for bench fees as this contravenes the decision of the National Council on Establishment to abolish the fees.

“We call on the West African Colleges of Surgeons and Physicians to immediately discontinue the practice of charging our members using parallel market exchange rates.

“We call on the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria to stop the downgrading of the membership certificate as this is not the practice in sister African countries that share the same certificate.”

Era of lip service is over, NARD  warns Tinubu, insists on 200% salary increase

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Respite as resident doctors suspend nationwide strike

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3 weeks ago

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May 22, 2023

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Respite as resident doctors suspend nationwide strike

The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has suspended its five-day warning strike.

President of the association, Dr Orji Emeka Innocent, told Daily Trust Sunday evening that the doctors would resume by 8am on Monday.

The NARD president said, “progress made will be reviewed on 2nd June 2023 during the association’s general meeting where next line of action will be decided.”

The association had embarked on the strike on Wednesday following the failure of the federal government to meet its demands.

Before the strike, NARD had given the government a two-week ultimatum to meet its demands.

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Some of the association’s demands include an immediate increment in the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) to the tune of 200% of the current gross salary of doctors.

It also demanded the immediate withdrawal and jettisoning of the “ill-conceived” bill by Honorable Ganiyu Johnson on the “enslavement of young doctors in Nigeria”.

NARD also demanded immediate payment of the 2023 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) in line with the agreements reached at a meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Health.

While calling for massive recruitment of clinical staff in the hospitals, NARD also called for immediate infrastructural development in hospitals without further delay.

The association called for immediate implementation of CONMESS, domestication of MRTA, and review of hazard allowance by all the state governments as well as private tertiary health institutions where any form of residency training is done, among others.

Respite as resident doctors suspend nationwide strike

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No work, no pay, Fed Govt tells doctors as NARD commences strike today

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3 weeks ago

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May 17, 2023

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No work, no pay, Fed Govt tells doctors as NARD commences strike today

The Federal Government yesterday urged the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve its planned warning strike billed to start today.

Describing the planned strike as illegal, it vowed to implement the no work no pay rule should the action go ahead.

Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, received a letter from the NARD executive notifying him of the impending industrial action.

Reacting to the May 16 letter, Ngige said he contacted the Minister of Health, who informed him that a meeting has been scheduled by his office with the doctors today.
In a statement by Director, Press and Public Relations, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, the minister advised the doctors to avail themselves of the opportunity for dialogue with their employer, rather than embarking on a warning strike unknown to law.
He said Federal Government has the right to also withhold the salaries of the doctors for the duration of the warning strike.
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Ngige said the government would use the money to pay ad-hoc workers that would be employed by the teaching hospitals.

The minister said: “I will advise them to attend the meeting with the Minister of Health tomorrow. I will also advise them very strongly not to go on a five-day warning strike. There is nothing like a warning strike. A strike is a strike.

“If they want to take that risk, the options are there. It is their decision. They have the right to strike. You cannot deny them that right. But their employer has another right under Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, to withhold their pay for those five days.

“So, if the NARD has strike funds to pay their members for those five days, no problem. The Health Minister will instruct the teaching hospitals to employ adhoc people for those five days and they will use the money of the people who went on strike to pay the adhoc doctors.

“That is the ILO principles at decent work, especially for those rendering essential services. Lives should be protected.

“One of my sons is a resident doctor. I will advise him to go to work and sign the attendance register. The people seen at work are the ones to receive their pay. If you don’t work, their will be no pay.”

On one of the five demands of the doctors, Ngige said the Federal Government lacked the powers to compel the states to domesticate the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF), since health was in the Residual List, where both the federal and state governments have the powers to legislate.

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