Give 15-day Deadline 

Health workers under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU)and the Assembly of Health Professional Association (AHPA) have threatened to embark on indefinite strike.

The workers yesterday issued a 15-day ultimatum to government to release approptiate circualrs to give effect to all their negotiated issues, failing which they would withdrawal services from May 19.

The health workers are demanding increase in retirement age of health workers from 60 to 65 years, promotion of officers from Consolidated Health Workers Salary Struture (CONHESS) 14 to 15 as Directors implementation of skipping of CONHESS 10 and payment of accrued arrears, among other things.

President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) Olumide Akintayo; Chairman, JOHESU, Mr. Ayuba Wabba; and Chairman, AHPA Dr. Godswill C. Okara, yesterday in a joint press statement after a meeting to review ongoing negotiations with the federal Government on various welfare-inclined initiatives of their of this pervading injustice and the refusal of the government at high level to redress same, JOHESU/AHPA has critically evaluated the situation and resolved as follows

That a 15-day ultimatum is hereby given to government to redress all outstanding issues after which JOHESU/AHPA will embark on an indefinite strike after it earlier suspended a warning strike in Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) which is presently designed not to produce dividends in favoure of only one profession; and 

It is our hope and desire that the minister would take necessary steps to ensure that our demands are met on or before Friday, May 16, 2014 in order to forestall the impending avoidable industrial action."

They said the meeting concluded that the Federal Government has not changed its tactics of treating members of JOHESU and AHPA with extreme contempt and levity.

The alsp said JOHESU and AHPA specifically wish to put on record that after four months of dialogue with the Federal Government team led by Senator Anyim Piuys Anyim, government has faild to redress albeit satisfactorlly the following fundamental issues