TheNewsGuru

Tag: Strike

  • Lagos begs doctors as NMA orders indefinite sit-at-home

    The Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos State has asked its members to embark on an indefinite ‘sit-at-home’ over alleged harassment and intimidation of medical workers by security agents in the state.

    The NMA on Wednesday gave the directive in a statement signed by its Chairman, Dr Saliu Oseni, and Secretary, Dr Ramon Moronkola, adding that the directive took effect from 6pm on Wednesday.

    The Lagos NMA accused police officers in Lagos of acting contrary to the directives of the Federal Government on lockdown order, noting that their members were unsafe.

    “As a direct result of the conflicting directives of the government and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, the Lagos State branch of Nigerian Medical Association was inundated yesterday (Tuesday) evening of several cases of harassment and intimidation of doctors and other health workers by officers and men of the Lagos State Police Command to the extent that even ambulances carrying patients with emergency cases were impounded. This has become a recurrent issue.

    “The Lagos State branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.

    “You are hereby advised to proceed on a sit-at-home, in your best interest, starting from 6pm today, Wednesday, 20th May, 2020 indefinitely, until otherwise advised,” the statement said.

    However, the Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr Gbenga Omotosho, said the issue had been resolved.

    He said, “Before it got to this level last night (Tuesday), the Lagos State Government intervened and called the top hierarchy of the police and told them the confusion we had in town and immediately the matter was resolved.

    “When the NMA said it was going on strike, the commissioner for health and everybody have been on it and they have spoken to them that the police had reversed themselves and there was no need to go on strike and they agreed.”

  • Curfew: Lagos doctors begin indefinite sit-at-home strike over police harassment

    The Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos has directed its members to immediately proceed on an indefinite sit-at-home strike starting from 6.00 p.m on Wednesday.

    The association gave the directive in a joint statement signed by its Chairman and Secretary, Dr. Saliu Oseni, and Dr. Ramon Moronkola, respectively in Lagos.

    The decision was taken after the police in Lagos on Tuesday mounted roadblocks in different parts of the state by 8.00 p.m.

    They also allegedly arrested some people, including essential workers that were presumed to have flouted the curfew directive.

    However, the NMA leaders said that their decision was as a result of the conflicting directives by the state government and law enforcement agents on the status of essential workers, including doctors and other health workers.

    The doctors also said that their action was necessitated following incessant harassment of healthcare workers in Lagos by the security agents.

    “The Lagos State Branch of the NMA has resolved that it is presently unsafe for its members to continue to provide healthcare services under the present confused arrangement.

    “We resolve that all doctors under the auspices of the Nigerian Medical Association in Lagos to proceed on a sit-at-home starting from 6.00 p.m today, May 20, indefinitely.

    “Until such time when the state government and the Commissioner of Police, are clear on how they wish to operationalize the lockdown/restriction of movement directive as it relates to essential service and service providers, including healthcare services and doctors,” the NMA leaders said.

    They demanded a written statement, signed by the state government and the appropriate police authorities, with clear terms on the status of essential services, including healthcare services and its providers, should be issued.

    “It should be advertised in the social and mainstream media, and a copy submitted to the Secretariat of the Lagos State Branch of NMA.

    “Whereas, the directives of President Muhamadu Buhari, through the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, was clear on the exemption of essential workers including doctors and other health workers from the ongoing lockdown/movement restrictions.

    “The Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr Hakeem Odumosu, has been issuing conflicting directives on social and mainstream media to the effect that essential workers, including doctors and other health workers, are not exempted.

    “As a direct result of the conflicting directives of the government and the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, the Lagos State branch of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) was inundated yesterday evening with several cases of harassments and intimidation of doctors and other health-workers by officers and men of the Police Command in Lagos State.

    “The healthcare workers were either resuming duty, returning home, or on-transit to heed an emergency call.

    “There was a most disturbing case of an ambulance conveying an injured patient which was prevented from moving to a destination, while the attending health workers were harassed and temporarily detained,” the NMA said.

    They recalled that a similar situation occurred sometimes in the early phase of the ongoing lockdown/restriction of movement based on similar conflicting directives from the Commissioner of Police.

    “It took the intervention of the State Governor, following a petition by the association, for normalcy to be restored,” they said.

    The Federal Government had ordered an 8.00p.m to 6.00a.m curfew, and an interstate restriction of movement nationwide, in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.

    The government, however, exempted healthcare workers, media, agriculture, oil, and gas, among others, as essential workers.

    The Commissioner of Police had earlier announced that the new directive from the Inspector General of Police was that everyone should be at home at 8.00 p.m, including essential workers, NAN reported.

  • Photo: UNIMED doctors protest non-payment of salaries, threaten strike

    Photo: UNIMED doctors protest non-payment of salaries, threaten strike

    Association of Resident Doctors (ARD) at the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED) Teaching Hospital Ondo, on Friday staged a peaceful protest over non-payment of five-month salaries

    The doctors threatened to embark on indefinite strike action if their salaries are not paid within one week.

    They said some arrears in 2019 were yet to be paid.

    The resident doctors in January protested non- payment of six months salaries after which they embarked on an indefinite strike action.

    Acting President of ARD, UNIMED branch, Dr. Shittu Abiola, said they suspended the strike action despite victimisation and arrears left unpaid.

    Abiola said they resume duties in the interest of the patients and promise that the arrears would be paid as soon as possible.

    He said it was pathetic and unfortunate that the arrears have not been paid but that they were only paid one month salary.

    According to him: “The sorry situation has plunged us and our families into severe hardship and humiliation.

    “In order to avert a repeat of what happened in January, we hav had wide consultations in form of letters and meetings to and with bothboir management and government representatives to hear our peculair situation and do the needful but to no avail.

    “As determined committed and resolute as we have been in the fight against COVID-19 pandemic as frontline healthcare workers in the state in accordance with the state government’s plan to not only cut the chain of transmission but ensure that everyone in the state has access to quality healthcare.

    “We will unfortunately not be able to continue to provide this much needed service beyond May 15th for the obvious reason that we would have totally run out of every means to continue to do so.

    “We care about our patients and the Ondo people but no one seems to care about us or our families. We will be willing to return to work when our demands such as full payment of all we are owed including our January salary shortfall.”

    Chief Medical Director of UNIMED, Dr. Oluwole Ige, said talks were on with protesting doctors to avert the strike action.

  • JUST IN: Doctors commence warning-strike in Ogun

    JUST IN: Doctors commence warning-strike in Ogun

    Doctors in Ogun State under the auspices of Association of Resident Doctors, Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) have declared a three- day warning strike.

    The strike begins on Sunday after a 21- day ultimatum and another seven-day ultimatum notifying State Government on the needs for appropriate remuneration for doctors in OOUTH as they battle the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The President of the association, Dr. Mutiu Popoola, announced this in a statement titled: Protect and appreciate doctors who put up their lives on line during this pandemic COVID-19 in Shagamu, Ogun State.

    He said: “We have been on this struggle for appropriate remuneration for over four years and it is unfortunate that government’s unwilling attitude to the welfare of doctors in OOUTH is unbecoming”.

    Popoola said that there has been no commitment whatsoever from the government on the issue of appropriate remuneration, entry level, new minimum wage, hazard allowance and life insurance for our members.

    He said that “despite the inadequate response of Ogun State Government to the health risks confronted by our members during this COVID-19 pandemic, our members went ahead to continue their work diligently in their various departments and at the isolation centre.

    “We were taken aback by the arbitrary change in only hazard allowance to be given as COVID -19 Special Hazard Allowance to all health workers.

    “The 200% increase in Hazard allowance is just an increase from N5000 to N15,000 for just the month of April,” he said.

  • COVID-19: Electricity workers threaten shut down over failure to protect staff

    COVID-19: Electricity workers threaten shut down over failure to protect staff

    The General Secretary, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), Comrade Joe Ajaero, has threatened that the union would be forced to embark on strike to protect its members against COVID-19.

    Ajaero made this known on Wednesday in a letter to the Minister of Power, Mr Sule Mamman, after he reported to work on March 23 from a trip to Germany and Egpyt.

    He said the minister did not self isolate himself for the compulsory 14 days.

    According to him, the minister will be solely responsible for the transmission of COVID-19 to any staff in Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN).

    Ajaero said that by this action the minister failed to provide adequate precautionary measures to protect staff and would be responsible for his failure to comply with the Federal Government directive.

    The letter read in part: “Our attention has been drawn to the return of the Minister of Power, Sule Mamman, from his trip to Germany and Egypt while on the entourage of the Chief of Staff to the President.

    “The minister despite the president’s directive to self-isolate, reported at the office in the midst of agitation and complains from the staff at TCN Headquarters in Abuja.

    “If not for the intervention of the union, there would have been pandemonium at the office, on March 23.

    “In view of recent developments, the union wishes to state unequivocally that the minister will be held responsible for the transmission of COVID-19 to any staff in TCN.”

    Ajaero said the minister did not comply with the federal government directive on people that travelled to countries with high cases of infection to self isolation.

    He said that the union was giving employers in the power sector whose staff constantly interface with customers and the public, 24-hours to put adequate precautionary measures in place to protect staff.

    Ajaero said that the union would be forced to pull out its members and would not be held responsible for any consequence arising there from.

    He therefore enjoined employers of labour in the sector to take necessary measures to ensure the safety of its members against the COVID-19.

  • ASUU will continue with strike until FG honours agreements with union – Don

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) says it will not suspend its ongoing strike until the Federal Government honours its agreements with the union.

    Dr Ezekiel Agbalagba, the ASUU branch chairman, Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun, Delta said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Warri on Wednesday.

    Agbalagba said that the university body had series of outstanding agreements with the government which had not been honoured.

    Recall that ASUU had on Monday directed its members to down tools and embark on an indefinite strike.

    ASUU had on March 9, 2020 declared a warning strike over the stoppage of the salaries of members of the union for refusing to enroll in the Integrated Personal Payroll and Information System (IPPIS) platform.

    The leadership of the union also said that the Federal Government had failed to address the outstanding issues raised at the meeting it had with government representatives in 2019.

    “We are not moved. There is total compliance to the strike order by ASUU in FUPRE.

    “The strike is going to be indefinite until government does the needful.

    “Government signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with ASUU and has refused to honour the agreement. It is sad,” he said.

    The ASUU chairman added that only two of its members in FUPRE had enrolled in IPPIS as directed by the Federal Government.

    “They were shortchanged in their salaries,” he said.

  • Coronavirus: Resident doctors call off strike

    Coronavirus: Resident doctors call off strike

    Gombe State chapter of Nigeria Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has called off the indefinite strike it embarked upon on March 16.

    Dr. Saidu Alhassan, the state President of the association disclosed this at a news conference in Gombe on Sunday.

    Alhassan said that the association decided to call off the strike for the sake of humanity and intervention by some senior colleagues.

    “Our decision to suspend the indefinite strike was informed by our association’s congress held on March 21.

    “Congress has suspended the ongoing indefinite strike considering the recent Coronavirus cases in the country and the commitment shown by stakeholders in the health sector.

    “The congress also appreciates Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) both at the national and states level as well as senior colleagues in the profession for showing concern,’’ he said.

    Alhassan said that NARD expected the State Government to reciprocate by meeting its demands as soon as possible.

    He noted that the association was convinced that government had shown commitment by compiling the list of financial implications as well as constituting the Civil Service Commission to address the issues.

    He, however, warned that any victimisation of NARD members would not guarantee industrial harmony in the state.

    The association embarked on the strike on March 16 following government inability to meet its demands after 11 weeks of inconclusive negotiations.

    Some of its demands were the upgrade of House Officers currently on internship and complimentary allowance for consultants and doctors, who had put in up to six years in service.

  • BREAKING: Amid COVID-19 red alert, Abuja Doctors down tools

    Amid COVID-19 red alert, members of Association of Resident Doctors, Federal Capital Territory Administration (ARD-FCTA) have embarked on indefinite strike over non-payment of their salaries.

    The President of the FCT chapter of the association, Dr Roland Aigbovo, said at a news conference on Tuesday in Abuja that the strike, which started on Monday, was to press home their demand for urgent payment of their salaries..

    He said that the strike would be observed by all members of ARD-FCTA which comprised of all doctors practicing in the 14 districts and

    general hospitals, Department of Public Health and Primary Healthcare Development Board under the FCTA, excluding consultants.

    He added that “our members were thrown into serious financial distress following non-payment of our salaries when due and we waited patiently after the end of year 2019 and new year 2020 celebrations till third week of February, only for us to receive a paltry sum of money as January salary.

    “The money received ranged from one-fifth to one-tenth of our salary with the exclusion of the newly employed members who have not

    been paid for about five to seven months.”

    Aigbovo said that arising from the association’s First Quarter Ordinary General Meeting held on Feb. 24, a 14-day ultimatum was issued to the FCTA management on the demands.

    These, according to him, include payment of the balance skipping arrears, payment of first 28 days already approved by the FCT minister, as well as the payment of 2016, 2017 and 2018 promotion arrears.

    Other issues include the improvement on security situation in hospitals, as well as the provision and maintenance of equipment and

    infrastructure in the various hospitals in the territory.

    Aigbovo said that when the 14-day ultimatum lapsed on March 6, a seven-day extension was also granted by the Congress of the association at an Emergency General Meeting (EGM) with the inclusion of the payment of February 2020 salary.

    “It will interest you to know that on Friday, March 13, FCTA started payment of February 2020 salary with no third-party deductions like

    pension, tax, NHF, association dues, cooperative contributions and others like loans repayment.

    “Our newly employed members were paid only one month out of five to seven months and house officers were paid two months without the consequential adjustment of the new minimum wage and the arrears.

    “An emergency general meeting of our association held yesterday (Monday) and it was unanimously agreed that until all our demands are met, the indefinite strike, which commenced on March 16 will continue.”

    He appealed to the Minister of FCT, Malam Muhammad Bello, to look into the association’s demands with a view to resolving them as soon as possible.

    Nigeria announced the third COVID-19 case in the country on Tuesday, and doctors are critical stakeholders in the health sector. Countries across the globe have been placed on red alert as the disease has grown from being an epidemic to a pandemic.

  • ASUU Strike: FG reaches agreement with lecturers on IPPIS

    The Nigerian government has reached an interim agreement with striking university lecturers to integrate the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    The IPPIS is the government’s accountability software that has been made compulsory for all public institutions, mainly for personnel payroll.

    ASUU is opposed to the use of IPPIS for lecturers saying it does not consider some of the peculiar operations of universities. The lecturers’ union then developed its own UTAS which it wants the government to adopt for universities.

    The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige, announced the agreement after a four-hour meeting between both parties.

    Mr Ngige said the two parties will reconvene on Monday after the ASUU delegation deliberates with its National Executive Council (NEC).

    Also speaking, the National President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, said the National Executive Committee of the union will review the conditions for the integration of UTAS into IPPIS.

    However, both parties did not reveal the conditions to the media.

    ASUU on Monday asked its members in federal universities across the country to begin two weeks warning strike in response to the government’s decision to stop the February salaries of lecturers who have not registered on the IPPIS platform.

    Thursday’s meeting is the first by both parties since the strike commenced.

  • BREAKING: ASUU commences nationwide strike

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has embarked on a two-week warning strike with effect from Monday.

    The strike was declared by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of ASUU which ended its meeting in Enugu on Monday.

    The President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, announced the strike in Enugu.

    The strike is following the decision of the federal government to stop salaries of lecturers who have not enrolled in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    ASUU is opposed to the use of IPPIS for lecturers.

    The strike action is also to compel federal government to implement the agreements and resolutions of Memorandum of Action discussed in the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, the 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) and the 2017 Memorandum of Action (MoU), all of which have not been implemented, officials of the lecturers’ union said.