Nurses issue strike notice By DENNIS LUBANGA There is a looming nationwide strike by medical practitioners after they issued a one week strike notice. The medics under the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) umbrella have threatened to call for industrial action on what they termed as national and county governments arbitrary alterations of health workers salaries. The workers are also accusing the national government for terminating and dismissing all health workers without following due process. They are also blaming the county governments on the other hand for purporting to be employers of health workers by producing fake and illegal pay slips. According to KNUN Uasin Gishu County Branch secretary general John Bii, the Union will lead its members in paralysing operations in the health care sector across all the public hospitals in the country. Speaking Monday to Journalists at the Uasin Gishu District Hospital, Mr Bii warned the Uasin Gishu County government that in case it fails to intervene, all the workers in the county will lay down their tools in protest. “The Kenya National Union of Nurses Uasin Gishu County Branch wishes to inform the County executives and members of the public that we stand by the seven days strike notice issued by our national office on Saturday February, 1, 2014 that we shall be boycotting work till all the deducted allowances are reinstated unconditionally within the specified time by the government,” Bii said. The allowances in dispute are; uniform, hardship, medical risks and non-practicing allowances for doctors which according to KNUN have erroneously been omitted from all the workers’ salaries. However speaking at the same time, KNUN Uasin Gishu County Branch chairman Simon Kibii said that many health workers are disadvantaged since they cannot borrow loans from banks. He cited the reason behind the nurses’ frustrations to the supremacy battles between the national and county governments. Kibii stated that most health workers were fast pulling out from the profession due to demoralization and frustrations from the two levels of governments. He at the same time asked the two governments to stop playing politics but instead take caution or else it is set to lose thousands of medics. “Already some health care workers have started pulling out from the civil service since they don’t see a future in working for the government. More than 3, 000 health workers have left the country to look for greener pastures in the last three years due to poor remunerations, the government should go back to the drawing table and give Kenyans quality service delivery,” Kibii said adding on that by 2018, 13, 500 health workers are set to retire from the civil service reflecting the fact that there is a shortage of 40, 000 health workers in the country. The leaders also revealed that some of their members are on a go slow with operations not being carried out fully. The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) yesterday asked all its members who are missing allowances to take time off duty and go seek their missing allowances from their employer. Baringo, Busia, Kakamega, Taita Taveta are among Counties where health workers have suspended services to go seek for their allowances.
Posted on: Tue, 04 Feb 2014 17:51:48 +0000
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