Health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) have said the option of going on strike cannot be ruled out if the Federal Government failed to meet its pending demands.
JOHESU comprises the Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals and Medical and Health Workers’ Union, the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes, and Associated Institutions as well as the Association of Medical Laboratory Scientists of Nigeria
The union’s demand comes as the industrial action of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors entered its third week.
Recall that NARD commenced a nationwide strike on August 2 to protest what it described as maltreatment of its members.
Their demands include the payment of death benefits to the families of 19 of its members who lost their lives during the fight against COVID-19 and the movement of its members from the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System platform to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
However, JOHESU announced on Sunday that its members may contemplate going on strike.
A senior executive member and spokesman for JOHESU, Olumide Akintayo, on Sunday, accused the Federal Government of trying to plunge the country into fresh health crises.
The union, in September 2020, had gone on a strike which was later suspended.
Akintayo said, “There are lots of outstanding issues with the government. We have a pending five-point agenda. We are dealing with the non-adjustment of the CONHESS salary structure, implementation of several court judgments. Some members are also being owed salaries and as you know the country is still battling with COVID-19 and lots of our members have not been paid COVID-19 allowances.
“We have demanded that government pay our members and up till now, they are still being owed. We also talked about the adjustment of retirement age which is something that cuts across the health sector. The government’s refusal to meet these demands is causing fresh crises in the sector.
“A strike is an option certainly; we are responsible and we are sensitive to the yearnings of Nigerians, but a strike is an option.
“We will continue to hope that the government reciprocates our mature gestures. Their actions will decide our reactions, but a strike is an option.”
