Six unions at the Daltatu Araf Specialist Hospital (DASH), Lafia, have embarked on a seven-day warning strike to press home their demands for improved welfare for their members.
The unions which took the decision at the end of their congress on Tuesday in Lafia include National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), among others.
Addressing newsman after the congress, Alizi Maga, spokesperson of the unions, said that the strike was necessitated after the expiration of seven-day ultimatum they earlier gave the government.
Maga who is also the Chairman of NANNM in the hospital, listed some of their demands to include implementation of COVID-19 hazard allowances and lack of insurance scheme for their members battling coronavirus pandemic.
Others, he said, include inadequate Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs) to members battling the virus, none implementation of promotion for 13 years among others.
He said that the unions were pushed to the world, which has resulted to the strike by the government because they have shown enough understanding with them.
“If after the seven-day warning strike the government still fail to meet our demands, we will be left with no option than to embark on an indefinite strike action,” the spokesperson added.
Corroborating on this, Dr Idoko Peter, Chairman of the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) in DASH, said the negligence by the government had led to their members being infected with coronavirus in the state.
“Twenty-one health workers were infected with coronavirus in the state in the cause of carrying out their responsibilities, so, why would the government not provide adequate PPEs and insured our members?” the Chairman of ARD queried.
He, therefore, said that the government should urgently address the issues to ensure industrial harmony in the state given the situation the country is currently going through.
When contacted, Pharmacist Ahmed Yahaya, Commissioner of Health appealed to the striking workers to consider the plight of patients in their facility and suspend the strike.
He explained that the government was working seriously towards meeting their demands.
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