Health Workers Give A Strike Notice

• In a statement addressed to the journalists in Nairobi, the secretary General George Gibore (Kenya Union of Clinical Officers) noted that the strike agreement comes due to the failure by the government to meet their demands as agreed previously.

Health workers have given a 21-day strike notice to the government for the negligence on their grievances.  This comes after the elapsing of 90days, where the government has shown no progress in addressing their demands and safety of the working environment within the hospitals.
The notice to the government has been issued by seven health workers unions and termed the strike to be nationwide.
In a statement addressed to the journalists in Nairobi, the secretary General George Gibore (Kenya Union of Clinical Officers) noted that the strike agreement comes due to the failure by the government to meet their demands as agreed previously.
Gibore accused the Salaries and Remuneration Commission from lowering their job groups.
“We aren’t going to negotiate any further once the notice expires on 9th September 2020,” Gibore brought out clearly.
Also, the union insists that the government should consider the health workers’ risky exposure to contracting the virus, such as the elderly, pregnant mothers, and the sickly. The virus has no exception but to fight it through prevention.

The union insists on contact tracing within the health workers once their colleague is found to have contracted Covid-19 . They blame the government for keeping silent when one is infected and term it a risk for other working health workers.
“We had cases of staff testing positive for Coronavirus and then taken to isolation without their colleagues being informed and tested as contacts. The action shows the government is not willing to trace patients’ contact or shut down the facilities in case of community transmission,” Gibore said.

County To Value Health Workers

Further, Mr. Gibore condemned the act of some counties failing to pay the workers’ salaries despite the risky working condition.
He also added that health workers’ intimidation should not be welcomed in any health facility within the country. Some of the counties that Gibore pointed out that workers face difficulties are Nakuru, Meru, Lamu, Vihiga, Kirinyaga, Uasin Gishu, Migori, and Busia.
Besides, the union is fighting a compensation package for health workers who died in the course of duty. They noted that none of the families had been compensated despite the country receiving billions of donations from individuals and organizations.
Finally, the union said that all the health workers staff are entitled to allowances as the president talked about it, yet it has not been effected.
Also Read:KEMSA Suspends CEO And Two Other Directors Over Covid-19 Procurement Kits