Health workers to commence strike by Sunday midnight, amid covid-19 pandemic

Health workers in Nigeria have announced that they would commence a strike action by midnight of Sunday, even as the country still battles to over some the covid-19 pandemic ravaging the globe.

The workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) made the announcement via a statement released on Sunday.

The decision to embark on an industrial action was said to have been unanimously reached by leaders of various health unions in the sector at the end of their expanded National Executive Council (NEC) meeting.

The statement read, “In the light of the above, the meeting of our expanded NEC was held Saturday 12 September 2020. And at the end of the meeting, which was held both physically and virtually, it was unanimously agreed that since nothing concrete was achieved at the said meeting with the Federal Government, that the strike notice is still germane and alive.

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“Therefore, the 15-day ultimatum still subsists and with effect from midnight of Sunday, 13th September, 2020 our members shall withdraw their services due to Federal Government’s inability to meet their demands.”

The development is coming after the leadership of JOHESU in a letter dated August 30 and addressed to the Federal Ministry of Health, vowed to embark on a strike if the Federal Government failed to meet their demands within 15 days.

The demands according to them included the review of the defective implementation of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance; the payment of all withheld salaries of JOHESU members, including the withheld April and May 2018 salaries; and the adjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) as was done with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) since 2014.

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