The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has directed its members to begin mobilisation across health institutions nationwide for a possible industrial action over the delayed adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The union issued the warning after its National Executive Council (NEC), calling on the Federal Government against further delays in implementing the salary adjustment, which has remained unresolved for about 13 years.
CONHESS comprises the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutes, and Associated Institutions, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, including its technical arm, the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations.
In a statement signed by Kabiru Minjibir, its National Chairman and Martin Egbanubi, National Secretary, JOHESU directed its members to remain on alert and prepare for possible industrial action if attempts to frustrate the implementation of the adjustment persist.
“NEC-in-Session placed its members on notice to be on alert and commence mobilisation across health institutions in the country for possible industrial action and for necessary but corrosive and unparalleled resistance should the government succumb to any threat or action by persons or groups to thwart this flagship demand of JOHESU,” the statement read.
CONHESS is the standardised public-sector salary structure for healthcare workers, excluding medical doctors and dental surgeons.
JOHESU described the adjustment as one of the oldest unresolved demands in the history of organised labour, having lingered for about 13 years.
The union commended the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) for taking steps to secure the implementation of the adjustment.
The union recalled that President Bola Tinubu had promised to implement the adjustment on June 5, 2023, when he appealed to its members to suspend their strike following his assumption of office.
It said the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare had forwarded the 2021 report of the High-Level Body Technical Committee on the adjustment to the Budget Office of the Federation on June 5, 2023.
However, JOHESU said the Presidential Committee on Salaries had yet to approve the adjustment because of its inability to meet, warning that it would not accept further delays on that ground.
The union also cited the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which it said empowers trade unions to negotiate benefit packages and collective bargaining agreements on behalf of their members.
JOHESU urged its members to remain peaceful while awaiting further developments and directives from the NLC and TUC following the ultimatum and timeline issued to the Federal Government on the implementation of the adjusted CONHESS.
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