The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Health Care Professionals, yesterday, announced plan to begin a seven-day warning strike from September 14 if Federal Government failed to meet its demands, Daily Sun reports
The union had earlier given the government a 15-day ultimatum which ends on September 13 to pay outstanding salaries and COVID-19 hazard allowances which they claim is still being owed their members
National Chairman of JOHESU, Biobelemoyo Joy Josiah, who disclosed this at a press conference in Abuja also called for the Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, to take over negotiations between them and the government from the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige.
Biobelemoyo said: “It has become imperative that the JOHESU formally draws the attention of Nigerians to some outstanding welfare packages for its members.
We find it particularly worrisome that some of these demands, which are specific court judgments, Collective Bargaining Agreements and MoUs have been treated with levity and outrightly violated for almost a decade in some instances.
JOHESU is forced to draw attention to the deliberate short-changing of our members in the payment of COVID-19 inducement allowances.
“The Federal Government did not ensure total and full implementation of the July 1, 2020 agreement between JOHESU and the Federal Government when it disbursed the 3rd tranche of the allowance for June, 2020.
This has created rumbles and grumbles across our membership and has now created the challenge of assuaging the affected members what have become restive and thus making it impossible to guarantee industrial harmony within the generality of JOHESU members.”