THESHIELD Garkuwa
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Despite threat by Kaduna state government to sack health workers that participated in a strike, Kaduna State Healthcare Workers Unions and Associations has commenced a seven day warning strike from yesterday.
In a communique signed and issued to journalists at the end of their joint meeting, says the state doctors were on strike prior to the pandemic but were prevailed upon to call off their actions by the state and National Nigeria Medical Association.
The communiqué says the strike is not to blackmail the state in the midst of the Covid 19 pandemic.
The communiqué says the meeting was called to assess the response of Kaduna state government to their earlier notice of a 7- days warning strike to press home their demands.
Some of their demands were as follow:
1, Kaduna state government deducted 25% of the salaries from about 11000 of Healthcare workers in the midst of COVID 19 (April and May). This action was done in violation of section 5 of the Labour Act.
2. Kaduna State Government paid between 150,000 to 450,000 naira as Occupational
Safety incentives to about 300 selected HCWs and non HCWs working as staff or
volunteer in the IDCC and isolation centre or serving in some of the Covid 19 pillars.
Less than 2% of the HCWs in the State benefited from the packages.
3. The promised 10% incentives for other HCWs though inadequate is yet to be paid.
4. Most HCWs that were infected with Covid 19 are from health facilities outside the
IDCC and isolation centres and none of them have been paid the purported #100,000
daily for 10 days.
5. None of our members working in hospitals have been contacted to give their details for the widely publicized #5million and the #2 million life and disability insurance respectively.
6. All health workers are exposed to varying degrees of risk of infectious diseases such as Covid 19, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDs, Lassa fever, Ebola fever among others.
7. There are no adequate PPEs in the State hospitals as evidenced by
a. Patients buying their own gloves.
b. HCWs getting their own personal facemask and eye goggles among other basic PPEs.
Signed:
Dr. Danjuma Sale
Chairman MDCAN BDTH
Dr Emmanuel Joseph
President ARD Kaduna
Me Ibrahim Abashe
Chairman, National Association of Pharmaceutical Technologists and Pharmacy Technology of Nigeria
Dr Stephen Akau Kache
Chairman NMA Kaduna
Among other Unions.
