Health Workers embarks on nationwide strike

Health workers under the auspices of Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU have declared a nationwide strike over hazard allowance and non-payment of withheld salaries of their members among others. JOHESU, in a statement on Sunday, told its members to withdraw services from midnight of Sunday, September 13th, 2020, since nothing concrete was achieved at the meeting with the Federal Government.

According to the statement, leaders of various health unions in the sector unanimously reached the decision at the end of their expanded National Executive Council.

The health workers had in a letter dated August, 30th, addressed to the Federal Ministry of Health, FMOH, issued a 15- day ultimatum to the Federal Government to meet their demands.

The demands of the aggrieved workers include; the review of the defective implementation of COVID-19 Special Inducement and Hazard Allowance; the payment of all withheld salaries of JOHESU members, including the withheld April and May 2018 salaries; and the adjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) as was done with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) since 2014. Others listed in the letter with the reference number HQ/JOHESU/ADM/FMoH/VOL.II/55 are the implementation of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (ADR) Consent judgment and other court judgments as well as the call to address the structural and infrastructural decay in the health sector.