The Federal Government’s meeting with the leadership of the Joint Health Workers’ Union (JOHESU) to address the ongoing strike, has ended in deadlock, as both parties could not agree on issues.
Lafiya360 reports that on Thursday, the Government, represented by the Federal Ministry of Health, met with the representatives striking health workers. The meeting was presided by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire.
The striking health workers accused the Minister of being biased, as he already has a position on the matter. Hence, they couldn’t agree, and the meeting wasn’t fruitful.
However, both parties, the Ministry of Health and JOHESU, agreed that the reconciliatory move by the government should be mediated upon by a third party. They agreed to let the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment be the conciliator.
According to the National Vice Chairman of JOHESU, Obinna Ogbonna, “When we arrived at the meeting, we discovered that all of the people, except those from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, were all from the Federal Ministry of Health. Also, the Minister who was presiding over the meeting had already taken a position over the matter that it is impossible to be given the adjusted CONHESS.”
Recall that on Thursday, May 25, 2023, the JOHESU and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals (AHPA) declared an indefinite strike following a protest at the Eagle Square in Abuja on Wednesday.
Also, it had issued a 15-day ultimatum to the Federal Government, which commenced on May 10, 2023, and expired on Wednesday, May 24, 2023, to meet its demands.
The JOHESU and AHPA, which comprise healthcare workers, excluding medical doctors, dentists, nurses and midwives, complained about the unfair treatment and discrimination of its members by the Federal Ministry of Health, with regards to their welfare, including wages and benefit packages, among others.
Their demands includes the immediate approval and implementation of the Technical Committee report on Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) adjustment by the Federal Government; payment and inculcation of peculiar allowances to health workers under the aegis of JOHESU/AHPA; immediate payment of the omission and Shortfall in the COVID-19 hazard/inducement allowances of affected health workers in the Federal Health Institutions and recognition of health workers in non-core hospital facilities in the payment of new hazard allowance.
Others are: the immediate and unconditional implementation of the Pharmacist Consultant cadre, unconditional payment of all withheld salaries of Federal Medical Centre, Owerri, Jos University Teaching Hospital, and the Lagos University Teaching Hospital and April and May, 2018 salaries of members at NOFIC, Azare; and the speedy implementation of the increase in retirement age from 60 to 65 years, and 70 years for Consultants in the health professions.
Investigations by Lafiya360 showed that activities in hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) seems to have dropped as doctors and nurses are now being overwhelmed with activities they usually get help for.
Also, because the records staff and health assistants are not available, they have to reduce the number of patients they now see per day by 70 to 80 per cent. All these have put the lives of patients needing medical services at risk, as they have to wait in long queues, and hope that they can meet the daily quota of patients that can be attended to.
In hospitals like the National Hospital Abuja and the Federal Medical Centre Jabi, activities seem to still go on, howbeit, slow. Doctors are seen being assisted by nurses and interns. Some hospitals also engaged the services of Locum to provide services to their patients.