THE Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Health Care Professionals have announced a seven-day warning strike, set to commence at midnight on Friday, October 25.
This decision followed a 15-day ultimatum issued on October 10 expired without a desired response from the federal government to address the unions’ demands.
The JOHESU national chairman, Kabiru Minjibir, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, October 25, said that members were left with no choice but to proceed with industrial action after efforts to secure negotiations yielded no progress.
The unions had in a memo titled “Notice of 15 days ultimatum and resumption of suspended strike action,” highlighted several demands, including the immediate implementation of the consolidated health salary structure (CONHESS) adjustments, the payment of 25 per cent CONHESS arrears, and nine months’ worth of unpaid salaries for staff of regulatory agencies.
The unions also requested immediate restoration of funding to the Environmental Health Regulatory Council, the reconstitution of Boards for Federal Health Institutions, and an increase in the retirement age for health workers.
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Other demands include a tax waiver on allowances, prompt payment of COVID-19 hazard inducement allowances, and the removal of the proposed National Health Facility Regulatory Agency, which JOHESU said could disrupt the health sector’s operations.
The warning strike followed the previous one they embarked upon between May 19 and June 6, 2023, which nearly paralysed healthcare services across public facilities before it was suspended after the intervention of President Bola Tinubu.
The ICIR reported how doctors and other health workers embarked on strike for approximately 300 days between 2013 and 2021.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M