|
New Page 29
Workers strike grounds
Psychiatric Hospital
FIDELIA MOGEKWU
MEDICAL
activities at Yaba Psychiatric Hospital, Yaba, Lagos, have been in limbo for the
past five weeks due to the strike embarked upon by both the doctors and nurses
over non-payment of salary arrears.
Already patients have been evacuated from
the hospital by their relations leaving only those referred as "paupers" who had
been abandoned by their families.
Daily Champion
gathered that the doctors were the first to embark on strike,
while nurses and midwives followed suit on September 8.
It was further learnt that while the
doctors are demanding that the hospital’s management should employ more hands to
cope with the enormous work, nurses in addition to poor working conditions, are
demanding for the full payment of their May and August 2004 salaries.
According to Daily Champion
sources, the nurses were paid 75 per cent of their salary in May and 65 per cent
in August.
Speaking with Daily Champion on the
issue, the Auditor (1) of Nurses and Midwives Association of the hospital
branch, Mrs. Martha Raro-Edo, said that they were being over-taxed, adding that
as much as N7,000 is taken from a worker’s salary every month.
Mrs. Raro-Edo further said that before
members embarked on strike, the union had given the management a one-week
ultimatum, adding that the decision to go on strike was not an internal one but
a joint decision taken by the national body of the association in Abuja and
federal health institutions.
She stated that the strike started at the
expiration of the one-week ultimatum.
Also speaking on the issue, the Secretary
of the association, Mr. Rufus Awharitoma, said the strike was inevitable
considering the poor working condition of the workers, adding that the "issue of
payment of salary was first raised in May."
"Instead of checking the problem then, the
medical director, simply rebuffed us," he stated.
On the arbitrary tax, he said the
association had consulted the Federal Ministry of Health and clarified the issue
with them "but on meeting the management they ignored us".
"This is a strong indication that they are
up to something. We have been overtaxed for a long time. We are even asking for
a rebate which they have persistently refused to grant us," Awharitoma further
stated.
He also said the hospital management was
owing them teaching allowance of about N46,000 per son." Denying nurses their
allowance is wrong, because they put in their time and energy to teach these
students. Some of them teach students at School of Nursing on Awolowo Road,
Ikoyi, and Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba.
Efforts to talk to the medical doctors
proved abortive as most of them declined comments.
Meanwhile, Daily Champion learnt
that the situation was not so bad for the doctors, as their condition of service
was said to be better than that of the nurses.
Attempt to talk to the Medical Director,
Dr. Idowu Malomo, on the issue also was not fruitful as he was said to have
locked himself in his office when Daily Champion called.
|
