Striking health workers under the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) in Kaduna State said yesterday they would not return to work until their demands are met by government.

The health workers had last week commenced an indefinite strike over government’s failure to meet their demands. State chairman of JOHESU, Comrade Cecilia Musa, yesterday told Daily Trust  that the strike would continue as long as their demands are not met.

The chairman of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital in Kaduna, Atule Emmanuel said, “this time around, we have vowed that if our demands are not met, we will not go back to work.”

Daily Trust gathered that patients on admission in hospitals have been discharged while doctors are only attending to emergency cases.

“This year, doctors went on strike and at the end, their salaries were adjusted and they were also paid two months’ arrears while we started our negotiation since beginning of this year and government has been promising us, calling us for meetings, yet nothing was done. Secondly, the industrial court ordered the Ministry of Health to allow our members skip CONHESS 10, this has been implemented but the arrears of affected staff have not been paid. There was also a circular on promotion of health professionals to CONHESS 15, which is the terminal level but up till now, it has not been implemented as well as non-implementation of retirement of health professionals at age 65,” he said. 

He warned that if the government does not act fast, state and local government health workers would join the strike.