Yet Another Doctors’ Strike
DOCTORS in Lagos are back on strike only two months after their November strike, which lasted 14 weeks, occasioning loss of lives of patients, especially mothers, children and emergency cases.
The Guild of Medical Doctors had two major demands _ full implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure, CONMESS, and reinstatement of the sacked past Chairman of the Guild, Dr. Ibrahim Olaifa.
In June 2010, the Federal Ministry of Health announced its readiness to start implementing the CONMESS and Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure for health workers, CONTISS. The various state chapters of the National Association of Resident Doctors, NARD, wanted state governments to follow suit or face strikes.
The strike in Lagos State ended when the state government addressed decided to pay between 75 per cent and 90 per cent of the CONMESS. However, Dr. Olaifa’s reinstatement was in a judicial tangle, as the case is still in court. The state government has promised to abide by the court’s verdict.
A January 15 meeting of the NARD National Executive Council in Ilorin, asked chapters where state governments have not fully implemented CONMESS/CONTISS to continue the strike.
Alarmed at the high body count after last year’s bout of strikes, the Elders Forum of the Nigerian Medical Association swung into action to cushion the effects of the strike by offering their services, especially to save the most vulnerable sections of society.
Dr Ore Falomo, speaking on behalf of the Forum called the striking doctors “blackmailers who are insensitive to the plight of Lagos State citizens.” It seems a fitting description of what is going on in Lagos where government has responded to the demands of the doctors. There are States that have ignored the strikes.
While strike lasted last year, the state government offered to raise the pay of Level 10 House Officers from N111, 649.8 to N173, 927.33, for instance.
Item 34 under the Exclusive Legislative List of the Constitution creates the problem. Its lists, “Labour, including trade unions, industrial relations; conditions, safety and welfare of labour; industrial disputes; prescribing a national minimum wage for the Federation or any part thereof; and industrial arbitration,” among matters for the National Assembly.
This portion of the Constitution is overdue for amendment, but the self_serving National Assembly is only interested in elections. When the federal government increases pay of its workers, state workers in the same industry ask for a pay raise without consideration for the ability of the States to pay.
We call on the striking doctors to return to work and while the dialogue continues. If last year’s strike was unpopular, the ongoing one is even more so. The state government can reinstate Dr. Olaifa without waiting for the court.
All parties to the dispute, nationwide, must consider the plight of the poor, the weak, children, pregnant women, and the elderly, who are the main users of public hospitals and reach quicker resolution of the issues.
