Health: ‘We No longer give a damn’, Govt Warns Health Workers on Strike, If you Don’t Report Back on Monday, You Sieze to be Public Servants
On Thursday this week, Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU) members joined other professional allied health worker who started strike on 16th May, 2022 on grounds of low pay and poor working conditions.
Justus Cherop Kiplangat, the UNMU president, told Daily Monitor that they embarked on the strike because the government is undermining them.
“There is industrial action beginning from tomorrow (today). We have rejected the letter from the Ministry of Public Service asking us to halt the planned industrial action,” he said.
“It [the letter] was not telling how much nurses are going to earn. It was just saying ‘we shall enhance salary’, so it doesn’t give us hope. We want to know how much they plan to enhance our salary. Doctors have been given already, the science teachers were given, so nurses are not aware of how much they will be given,” he said.
In a May 16 letter to UNMU, the Minister of Public Service, Mr Wilson Mukasa Muruli, had appealed to the nurses to halt the planned strike.
“This is to inform you that Cabinet directed enhancement of salaries of health professionals and scientists in the Financial Year 2022/2023. Accordingly, funds have been provided in the budget for FY 2022/2023 and salaries for all health professionals, including nurses, midwives and allied health professionals will be enhanced effective 1st July 2022,” the minister wrote.
But it seemed these health workers paid a deaf hear to the minister’s communication.
On Friday, while addressing press at Uganda Media Centre, Kampala, Minister gave an ultmetum to Allied professional health workers of only this weekend to halt their strike before Monday next week, if not, they are to seize to be public servants.
Minister for public service Hon. Wilson Muruli Mukasa said that government the takes note of the ongoing industrial action of health workers,but it is in contravention of section 8 subsection 3/A and B of the public service negotiating consultative act of 2008,which stipulates that the commencement of any industrial action should follow a 90 days notice which these health workers didn’t do.
Muruli said as government they are working on enhancements and this issue has been budgeted for in the financial year 2022/23.
Muruli adds that in this regard all these should reconsider their views and report to duty on Monday,those who will fail will be considered as have abandoned duty.
Mean while he has directed all chief administrative officers,and hospital directors to act accordingly to those who will have failed to return to duty.