Health workers begin indefinite strike

Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals (AHPA)-affiliated healthcare workers have started an indefinite strike.

This was disclosed on Thursday during a briefing in Abuja by Dr. Obinna Ogbonna, National Vice President of JOHESU.

The Federal Ministry of Health, in particular, has been accused of treating its members unfairly and discriminatorily with regard to their welfare, including things like wages and benefit packages, among other things. The JOHESU and AHPA, which represent healthcare workers but do not include medical doctors, dentists, nurses, or midwives, have denounced this.

Other demands include the immediate and unconditional implementation of the cadre for pharmacist consultants, the unconditional payment of all unpaid salaries at the Federal Medical Centre in Owerri, the teaching hospitals of Jos University and Lagos University, and the NOFIC in Azare, as well as the prompt implementation of raising the retirement age for consultants in the health professions from 60 to 65 and 70 years.

JOHESU/AHPA is a conglomerate of four registered Trade Unions which includes: the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals Research Institutes and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIAI), and Non-Academic Staff Union of universities and Associated Institutions (NASU).

The unions gave the government a 15-day deadline to comply with their requests. This deadline was set for Wednesday, May 24, 2023.

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