The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday condemned the federal government’s attitude to the ongoing strike by health workers under the auspices of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), saying government is callous.

 

Health workers have been on strike since mid-November following an October 16 call for industrial action by the National Union of Allied Healthcare Professionals (NUAHP) in protest over government’s refusal to honour previous agreements on a series of labour issues.

 

 

General Secretary of the NLC Comrade Peter Ozo-Eson in a statement expressed the congress’ worry over government “indifference and insensitivity” to the strike, saying it is “callous, injurious and an affront to hordes of Nigerians in need of medicare on a daily basis and a demonstration of government’s disdain for legally-binding agreements and court 

judgments.”

 

The NLC said it may embark on sympathy strike if government does not immediately resolve all the issues.

 

While describing the attitude as “a sad commentary on our democratic culture which ought to be refined,” the statement said the health sector is “too sensitive and the situation therein, too fragile for government to maintain this level of obduracy.”

 

by Francis Okeke