Posted on: Wed 02-09-2020

Fresh crisis is brewing in the health sector as workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) have given the Federal Government 15-day ultimatum with effect from Sunday August 30 to embark on strike over welfare issues. 

The union said that the Federal Government has failed to address its demands on outstanding welfare matters, stressing that it would embark on indefinite strike at the expiration of the 15 days. 

JOHESU gave the 15-day ultimatum in a letter dated August, Friday 28 which was addressed to the Minister of Health. The letter, signed by the President of JOHESU, Comrade Joy Biobelemoye Josiah and five others was copied to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Director General of the Department of State Service (DSS), President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and that of the Trade Union Congress (TUC). 

Other signatories include all Chairmen and Secretaries of the five-member JOHESU, Matthew Ajurotu, Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Rauf Adeniji and A.A Shettima, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM). 

The rest are, Dr B.Akintola and Dr Ezekiel Popoola, Senior Staff Association of Universities’ Teaching Hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI); O.C Ogbonna and Martin Egbanubi, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) Hassan Makolo and P.A Adeyemi for NASU as well as Olumide Akintayo, AHPA. 

JOHESU expressed disappointment that the Federal Government has not acted on five correspondences at different occasions to highlight the outstanding welfare issues. 

The issues include: “Review of the defective implementation of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance; Payment of all withheld Salaries of our members, including the withheld April and May 2018 Salaries; Adjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) as was done with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) since 2014. 

Others are the implementation of National Industrial Court of Nigeria’s Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Consent judgment and other court judgments and structural and infrastructural decay in our health sector. 

The union referred to its various correspondences on the plight of health workers, saying the federal government had not deemed it fit to honour the terms of settlement entered into with JOHESU on September 30, 2017, especially the upward review of CONHESS Salary Structure as agreed, to be completed within five weeks from the date of agreement (30/09/2017) among other requests. 

“This is both distasteful and condemnable because it is three whooping years after the conclusion of this agreement,” the letter partly read. 

JOHESU recalled that in a meeting with JOHESU and the Minister on Wednesday, 1st July, 2020, it was agreed that a mistake was made by government in the implementation of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard allowance. 

It stated that, up till the time of this letter, the shortfall had not been paid. 

The letter further read; “To make matters worse, when the payment for June, 2020 was made, Government decided to again pay 10 percent of Consolidated Basic to our members. 

“This is in contravention of the spirit and content of the MoU signed on April 21, 2020. “Consequently, JOHESU is constrained to give the Federal Government 15 days ultimatum with effect from midnight Sunday, August 30, 2020 and to inform you that with effect from midnight of Sunday, September 13, 2020, all our members in the Federal Tertiary Health Institutions shall embark on a strike action while State and Local Government health institutions are placed on red alert for possible entry into the fray if the Federal Government footdrags in attending to our demands,” the letter added. 

JOHESU said it had always “exhibited maturity, selflessness and patriotism even in the face of extreme provocations and government’s non-challant attitude to the welfare of our members and we think that our maturity and selflessness have been taken for granted. 

“This 15 days ultimatum is necessitated by the nonchalant and lackadaisical attitude of the Federal Government to the plight of our members, in spite of our benevolence and long notice given on these issues.” 

Confirming the decision to go on strike, JOHESU national boss said; “We have given 15 days ultimatum to the Federal Government as required by law. Letters have been sent to the government and we have got acknowledgement from the government to that effect. 

“But, the count starts from midnight Sunday and it is expected to expire by September 13, 2020. That is when the strike will commence if the Federal Government refuses to accede to our laid out demands that date back to 2014.” 

He lamented while responding to questions from the media weekend, in llorin, Kwara State that the Federal Government had exhausted the union’s endurance level. 

His words; “For instance government entered into agreement with us on CONHESS adjustment precisely September 20, 2017. The adjustment should have taken place within five weeks. You know how many weeks it has translated into from 2017 till now. Again, we even have some court judgments in favour of some members of JOHESU, but the government is not doing that. 

“Yet at the point of implementation Federal Ministry of Health issued a circular that negated the spirit and letter of that agreement. We made our complaints and the Federal Ministry of Health invited us and said we were right. At a meeting with the Health Minister of state and others it were agreed that the non-implementation was done in error. 

“They requested that we should forward to them the list of those that have been short-paid and financial implications. As it stands today, they paid the hazard allowance of June 2020 without correcting the errors. 

“We are seeing that as a deliberate provocation of health workers. Not that we cannot react, but we put Nigerians first. It is clear here that the public health practice is the only sector that can save citizens of poor third world countries like ours. 

“All along we have been trying to mitigate the situation, but now it is going beyond our endurance level.” 

Source: independent

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