The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) says it has commenced nationwide indefinite strike in earnest.
Mr Obisesan Oluwatuyi, General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP) disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja.
Oluwatuyi said that they would not call up the strike until government meets their demands.
He said: “The soldiers have been let loose, no retreat, no surrender until government does the needful”.
NAN recalls that members of the JOHESU had earlier threatened to embark on a nationwide indefinite strike beginning on Tuesday midnight due to alleged Federal Government’s failure to meet their demands.
Mr Josiah Biobelemoye, President of the union, who issued the strike notice on Monday, attributed the industrial action to what he described as the “insensitivity and lackadaisical attitude of drivers of the health sector’’.
He directed all JOHESU members in federal health institutions across the country to commence the strike at midnight of April 17.
Biobelemoye listed their demands to include upward adjustment of CONHESS Salary Scale, arrears of skipping of CONHESS 10 and employment of additional health professionals.
Other demands are implementation of court judgments and upward review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years.
Biobelemoye, who said that the union suspended its last nationwide strike on Sept. 30, last year, after signing a Memorandum of Terms of Settlement (MOTS), with the federal government.
According to him, the MOTS was supposed to be implemented within five weeks after the date of suspension of the strike.
He, however, noted that six months after the suspension of the nationwide strike, government was yet to do anything tangible over the pending issues.
According to him, the union had on Feb. 5 given a fresh 21 days ultimatum to enable government meet the agreement reached.
The JOHESU president stated that the union gave an additional 30 working days effective from March 5, after the expiration of the earlier 21 days ultimatum.
Emeh Achanga,the CEO of the Miss Petite Nigeria Brand is a lawyer turned blogger. She is very passionate about writing, with several publications and awards to her credit .She is currently working on publishing a collection of short stories which are basically a memoir about her exciting true experiences.
