• Say, it’ll resume strike

Pix: From right: Olumide Akintayo, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Dr. Godswill  Okara, President, AMLSN and Chairman, Assembly  of   Healthcare   Professional Associations (AHPA); Comrade Wabba Ayuba, Chairman, Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Mr. Abdulrafiu Adeniji, President, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) during the press briefing jointly organized by the AHPN and JOHESU on latest developments in the health sector, at Pharmacy House, Anthony Village, Lagos, recently.   Photo: CHIOMA UMEHA

The fragile health sector which is still grappling with the outbreak of Ebola virus disease (EVD) amid doctors’ strike may soon be plunged into a deeper quagmire as workers said they are ready for another showdown with government.

Health workers which comprise 95 per cent of the workforce in the sector, including nurses, pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, physiotherapists have threatened to resume their suspended strike hwithin 14 days, for government’s alleged concession to all the 24-demands of doctors, unless the former issues appropriate circulars to redress perceived injustice. Their threat to begin strike was contained in a memo which was made available to Daily Newswatch weekend.

A hospital completely deserted due to the ongoing strike by health workers, recently.

Health workers under the umbrella of the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals Associations (AHPA) weekend, in a letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, dated August 1, 2014, said: “…While the government gives the impression, on one hand to JOHESU that some of our demands have been referred to the Yayale Ahmed Presidential Panel for mediation, Government has actually gone ahead to accede to all the 24 ‘commandments’ of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), including issuing new circulars in June and July to outrightly jeopardize the MOU of June 5, 2014, as authenticated by our team and that of Government.

“…Thus, Your Excellency, if government does not immediately redress the palpable injustice we have drawn your attention to by issuing appropriate circulars in the next two weeks, then government leaves us with no choice than to review our suspended strike of January 2014, after the expiration of our ultimatum.”

The letter titled: “Inclusive labour relations: essential for public healthcare delivery” was signed by Chairman JOHESU, Dr. Ayuba Wabba; Secretary JOHESU, Yusuf Badmus; and Chairman AHPA, Dr. G. C. Okara.

The reads: “We bring you good tidings and continue to wish Your Excellency the very best as you tackle various challenges in the task of nation building. Recent developments, with regards to the Health Sector, compel us to reach out to you again, as they pose a danger to the necessary stability for quality public healthcare delivery.

“The Joint Health Sector Unions have continued to observe and appraise government’s negotiations with striking doctors under the aegis of the NMA. Ordinarily, in line with existing labour laws, the NMA, a professional association of doctors is certainly not a legitimate platform to negotiate conditions of service of its members. We have on numerous occasions drawn the attention of the Federal Government to this reality in addition to a court judgment on same by the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), Enugu.

“Unfortunately though, Government’s negotiations with NMA has confirmed that the Federal Government has found it convenient to sacrifice the interest of our members and the rule of law yet again to favour the NMA.”

According to the health workers, government has outrightly compromised the welfare of their members and the promotion of harmonious industrial relations and peace in the health sector in contentious areas.

These includes among others;  non-reversal in appointments into the position of Deputy Chairman – Medical Advisory Committee (D-CMAC) despite that the enabling Act setting up teaching hospitals in Nigeria has no provision for this position, making such appointment outrightly illegal; government agreement with NMA to deprive health workers from reaching the apex of their careers in the public service as provided for in their schemes of service to satisfy the ego trip of Nigerian doctors and  approval of the skipping of CONMESS 3 by doctors which they claim amounts to a violation in the relativity of the CONHESS & CONMESS Scales. This relativity should remain sacrosanct in the spirit of the 2009 collective bargaining agreement, JOHESU representatives said.

Perhaps, more disparaging to them is their claims of being short-changed by government who sidelined all health workers and have given doctors the sole preserve of being designated consultants in their areas of competence through a new circular that now provides unholy clauses that read inter-alia, “the designation of consultants should only be used for personnel with qualifications registrable with Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria” MH/PM138/Vol.111/83, July 18, 2014. They condemned the new arrangement in which consultancy status is approved for care-providers by MDCN, an agency that regulates only doctors.

“Tragically, and in what is certainly a climax of the absurd, government has again traded away the rights of health workers, other than doctors, to be designated consultants in their areas of competence through a new circular that now provides unholy clauses that read inter-alia, “the designation of consultants should only be used for personnel with qualifications registrable with Medical & Dental Council of Nigeria” MH/PM138/Vol.111/83, 18th July, 2014. It is ridiculous that consultancy status approved for care-providers will be at the whims and caprices of MDCN, an agency that regulates only doctors,” the letter said.

Health workers further accused government of toying with payment of arrears of its members. “Government continues to play games with the payment of arrears of our members, following approval of adjustments on the CONHESS scale as approved since Jan 2014, while it has now come with specific action plan for payment of doctors,” their letter read.

They further condemned government for bowing to the pressure of NMA and withdrawing the CBN circular on the importation of in-vitro diagnostic.

“The distasteful withdrawal of the CBN circular on the importation of in-vitro diagnostic, on the prompting of NMA, gives the impression that government will never stop treating the welfare of our members shabbily as NMA & its members continue to enjoy a free reign in dictating the latitudes and dimensions the interest of its members can be regulated in the Health Sector,” as the letter puts it.

Health workers sadly noted: “Government policy now compels a formal training, at the expense of the Federal Government, exclusively for resident doctors in a multi-disciplinary sector, where a plethora of care-providers are burdened with training and manpower development at their own costs.”

They further alleged that government has deceitfully reserved appointments of CMDs/CMACs for only doctors, while giving health workers the impression that the matter had been referred to the Yayale Ahmed Presidential panel for mediation.

“Attempts by Government to formally restrict appointments of CMDs/CMACs to only doctors while deceiving the JOHESU that the matter had been referred to the Yayale Ahmed Presidential panel for mediation,” health workers said.

The letter reads: “The JOHESU has treated you with great respect, but what we have received in return is obvious contempt and ridicule. Today our members who constitute over 95 per cent of the workforce in the Health Sector deride us, as their representatives who only sign worthless MOUs while NMA which has no respect for the rule of law, is the sacred cow handled with kid gloves. Your Excellency, it is an irony that this administration’s celebrated rule of law mantra, does not hold sway in our sector.

“The JOHESU continues to be civil and methodological in negotiation and dealings with government, so we take contentious matters with doctors to the court for litigation, this has brought us victory on many occasions. What we observe, however, is that government, through the FMOH, attempts to truncate our success by taking up the position of doctors through appeals in higher courts. This is the same government that negotiates condition of service with NMA and indulges same NMA with the privilege of determining what government can concede to other health workers; in scenarios that are best likened to aberrations.

Insisting that government is taking their tolerance for granted, health workers said: “We believe our members have been patient enough and we have reached a point where we are now briefing our labour allies and good health seekers in Nigeria that enough is enough.

“It is equally of the utmost importance to stress the regrettable double standards of the government thus far within the sphere of labour relations in the health sector.  As we have pointed out time and again; the NMA is not a trade union. It is a professional association which medical practitioners belong to like the myriad of professional associations that members of our unions also belong to.  And for the avoidance of doubt, professional associations do not have the trade union collective relations rights of bargaining for terms and conditions of employment.”

Maintaining that NMA is not a trade union and therefore lack legal platform to embark on trade disputes, JOHESU berated government for aiding and abetting them.

Health workers said: “It is thus strange that while the FGN disregards the legitimate collective agreements reached with bona fide unions under the JOHESU platform, it upholds the dictates of a singular professional association, up to and including jettisoning positions secured through bargaining and even the courts of the land, by JOHESU.

“It is not too late for the right steps to be taken to ensure justice, peace and stability in the health sector.  And we urge you to use your kind office to effect this without delay.”