THE federal government has pleaded with the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) to suspend its nationwide strike embarked on at the end of an ultimatum Sunday midnight; September 13, 2020.
JOHESU had after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on Saturday September 5, 2020 given the federal government one week ultimatum within which to address all lingering issues or face an indefinite strike. The ultimatum ended without any concrete agreement between it and government.
JOHESU had asked the federal government to address, among other things, the failures and decaying infrastructure in the health sector and pay the shortfall in Covid-19 hazard allowances for their members. It is also demanding the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure, implementation of the National Industrial Court consent judgment and other court judgments, and pay all outstanding salary arrears to health workers.
FG Appeals for Suspension of Strike
Today, Monday, September 14, 2020, the Minister of Health, Dr Osagie Ehanire, pleaded with the striking health workers during the day’s briefing of the Presidential Task Force on Covid-19 in Abuja to suspend the strike action and come to the negotiation table. The minister argued that doing so was necessary in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
“I use this opportunity to appeal to JOHESU to suspend their industrial action and go into negotiation. The position of the Ministry of Health is that strikes by healthcare workers jeopardise the lives of citizens, especially at such times of global health emergencies as now.
“Nigeria needs the service of all our health workers to control the spread of Covid-19. Issues around allowances are multi-sectoral and have always been saved with negotiations no matter how long it took,” Dr Ehanire said.
Attend to Our Demands With Same Seriousness as Doctors, JOHESU Tells FG
Meanwhile the President of JOHESU, Comrade Biobelomoye Josiah Joy, had earlier on Monday asked the federal government to accord JOHESU’s demands similar attention it devoted to those of resident doctors following its strike last week. The strike was called off a couple of days after the doctors reached an agreement with government.
JOHESU has been peaceful for two years, we waited for them to solve all these problems and they refused. Even court judgment has said they should implement in four weeks. This judgment was passed in March 2019. And we waited patiently and they decided that our patience is foolishness, our patriotism is stupidity.
Comrade Biobelemoye said in an interview on Channels TV programme, Sunrise Daily rather than engaging the union during the two-week ultimatum, the federal government rather chose to intimidate it.
“We gave a 15-day notice that was to expire by Sunday, midnight…They reached out to us on Thursday. They waited until Thursday.
“When we went into the discussions, rather than go in with open minds, they started with intimidation. They threatened us, and at the end of the day, they followed up with insincerity, gross insincerity and dishonesty on their part of discussions.
“We took it back to our NEC. And the expanded NEC reviewed everything and found out that there was nothing tangible.”
He further stated: “They are still paying the faulty 10% to our members, when the agreement said they should be paying 50%. “Paragraph 1a of the agreement was explicit – whoever was earning N5,000, replace that N5,000 with 50% of Covid allowance.”
He revealed that aside the issue of allowance, health workers have been punished for embarking on previous strike actions with the government invoking its ‘no-work, no-pay’ rule.
“JOHESU has been peaceful for two years, we waited for them to solve all these problems and they refused. Even court judgment has said they should implement in four weeks. This judgment was passed in March 2019. And we waited patiently and they decided that our patience is foolishness, our patriotism is stupidity.
“So JOHESU members have decided that even if it is going to be their death, they would rather be off again, because the caregiver must be alive to also give his care,” he stated.
Lamenting that health workers have been poorly treated by the government for a long time, Comrade Biobelemoye vowed that members of JOHESU leadership are prepared to be jailed by government for their stand.
He said: “When there is gross bias exhibited . . . others have gone on strike during the climax of COVID in this country. They never say they have apprehended any strike, they discussed and then they gave six over eight. We reduced our demands from over 15 to five; and then we said okay, just give three. And they are still playing games with it.
“On the first of July, we agreed with them to correct this Covid-19 allowances, they refused to correct it, and then our consolidated salary adjustment, which they entered…in 2017, to be implemented in five weeks; and today, it’s three years now. Have they done it? No.
“If conciliation fails, what next? If conciliation comes with dishonesty, what next? If a conciliator is biased, what next? We have given a 15-day ultimatum and the legal books they are referring to, says for those in essential services, that you must give 15 days before you withdraw services. And that is exactly what we have done. And within the 15 days, they threatened us with no work, no pay, with court orders. JOHESU leaders are ready to be in prison. I think the courts are not stupid.
“Some of the reasons we went on strike for in 2018, structural decay, the management of the system, was to make the system better for Nigerians. And they punished us for that. So it’s not just because of our allowances. We are in a family; we make up 95% of the family.”
Comrade Biobelemoye, who is also the National President of Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), however, said its members were ready for dialogue, although he insisted that the “dialogue must be serious.”
“We sympathise with Nigerians. But they also should bear with us. We have been patient for two years. Now, they say they’ve released money, but it’s still the old amount, meaning they are not ready to correct what they agreed to correct,” he said.
