Health workers at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Idi-Aba, Abeokuta may embark on an indefinite strike following the sudden cut in their salaries by management of the hospital.

The health workers, under the aegis of Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU), declared that failure by the hospital authorities to meet their demands will precipitate an immediate industrial action. New Telegraph gathered that the hospital management’s decision to cut salaries affected workers including pharmacists, nurses, laboratory scientists, laboratory technicians, administrative officers, clerical officers and engineering personnel, among others.

Medical doctors, who are currently on national strike, were reportedly excluded from the alleged salary reduction. But in a statement signed by the JOHESU branch chairman, Samuel Idowu, and his secretary, Bashiru Obabiyi, the union described the slashing of their members’ salaries as “illegal” and vowed to resist it.

The union said; “We make bold to say that the Medical Director, the Deputy Director (Finance and Accounts), the Director of Administration and by extension the hospital management have conspired to inflict untold hardship on our members judging from explanations proffered by the Hospital Management Committee.

“This is a deliberate attempt to undermine the competence of a court of competent jurisdiction (National Industrial Court of Nigeria) that awarded our members the skipping of CONHESS 10 since June 2012.”