Health workers under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Union. JOHESU. will today commence an indefinite nationwide strike after its failed meeting with the Federal Government in Ahuja, yesterday. 

Giving the directive to all health workers to embark on an indefinite strike, the Vice President of JOHESU. Felix Faniran, said the strike would commence midnight yesterday (Tuesday). 

Faniran who is also the president of the National Union of Allied Health Professionals. 

NUAp, said that the Federal Government has formally addressed the disagreement on who should have the consultancy status in the sector. 

While regretting that the health workers and the government were not able to resolve all the issues outstanding said the government has failed to meet the demands of the Union. 

Faniran said. "We held a meeting with the SGF on Thursday; the government only released one of the many circulars we told them to release. 

The one they released was the one in respect to consultancy status which we say they should correct which they have now corrected. 

All other issues, particularly, that our salary which was supposed to be adjusted in January this year in the same line with our colleagues - the members of the Nigerian Medical.Association, NMA, who have had theirs adjusted and whose circulars have not only been issued, but they are already enjoying a new salary package, our circular is yet to be released. 

"We are in the same sector but they are enjoying new salary while we have not got the circular, yet let alone implementing it. Also, this is already November, budgets have been prepared in all institutions and ours have been prepared on old rate, so we can no longer wait. " 

He argued that since the govemment failed to address the salary adjustment and the arrears of CONHESS 10, noting that JOHESU has no choice than to embark on strike to press home its demands. "They claimed that they are just compiling the list whereas they have compiled this list long ago, it was supposed to be paid in 2013, they could not pay, we waited till this year, they" said it was not in the budget for 2014 and that we have to wait till 2015, we are all tired of this delay," he added. 

Faniran also listed other demands of the Union to include circular on retirement age. 

According to him, there has been a White Paper in 1981 that whatever is happening in the universities should be the same condition of service in the University Teaching Hospitals. 

By: Chioma Obinna, Victoria 

Ojeme & Gabriel OIawale