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Despite the warning from the state governor, the Kaduna State Healthcare Workers Unions and Associations have embarked on a 7-day warning strike over issues of salary adjustments among other matters.
The state governor, Nasir El-Rufai, had Thursday warned doctors threatening to go on strike in the state that they are at risk of losing their jobs.
“The government rejects the strike threat and will regard persons who fail to show up at their assigned places of work as having forfeited their employment,” El-Rufai said in a statement by his special adviser on media, Muyiwa Adekeye.
“Those who are not willing to work are strongly warned against criminal actions such as attempts to impede access to workplaces, harass willing workers or to sabotage facilities and equipment.”
However the healthcare workers unions and associations insisted on the strike action, as contained in a communique signed by Dr Danjuma Sale, Chairman, Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, MDCAN, Dr Emmanuel Joseph, President, Kaduna Chapter, Association of Resident Doctors, ARD, and others and issued to journalists at the end of their joint meeting on Saturday.
The communiqué read that the meeting was called to assess the response of Kaduna State Government to their earlier notice of a 7- day warning strike to press home their demands.
“Kaduna state government deducted 25% of the salaries from about 11000 of Healthcare workers in the midst of COVID 19 (April and May). This action was done in violation of section 5 of the Labour Act,” it stated.
“Kaduna State Government paid between 150,000 to 450,000 naira as Occupational Safety incentives to about 300 selected HCWs and non HCWs working as staff or volunteer in the IDCC and isolation centre or serving in some of the COVID-19 pillars. Less than 2% of the HCWs in the State benefited from the packages.
“The promised 10% incentives for other HCWs though inadequate is yet to be paid. Most HCWs that were infected with Covid 19 are from health facilities outside the IDCC and isolation centres and none of them have been paid the purported #100,000 daily for 10 days.
“None of our members working in hospitals have been contacted to give their details for the widely publicized #5million and the #2 million life and disability insurance respectively.
“All health workers are exposed to varying degrees of risk of infectious diseases such as Covid 19, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, Lassa fever, Ebola fever among others.
“There are no adequate PPEs in the State hospitals as evidenced by Patients buying their own gloves, HCWs getting their own personal facemask and eye goggles among other basic PPEs.”
