The Honourable Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity, Chief Collins Cocodia and his counterpart in the Ministry of Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu has waded into the current strike action embarked by health workers in a crucial meeting with union leaders with a view towards assessing the grievances and promptly addressing the demands of the health workers in the state.
You will recall that the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Health Care Professionals (AHPA) had embarked on an indefinite strike at the Federal level. The national unions had earlier this week directed state chapters to join the industrial action when talks with the federal government ended in deadlock.
Representing the health workers, chairman of the state chapter, Comrade James E.P. Adama while justifying the continuation of the strike berates the state government for not showing enough commitment to the health sector. He listed shortage of staff and nonpayment of accumulated arrears as critical issues. He pleaded with the government to employ more health workers in the state, pay up all backlog and outstanding arrears to health works.
Mediating in the industrial action at the state level Hon. Collins B. Cocodia noted that the health workers may be complying with directives from their national union, however, the state health workers should discountenance the directive and discontinue the strike in order not to ground the health sector and save lives already at grave risk by the industrial action. Hon. Collins B. Cocodia explains that the Bayelsa State government has given considerable attention to the health sector noting that it is a strategic sector with huge government funding. In addition to putting in place health facilities in all the 105 wards in the state, the Bayelsa Diagnostic Center and other referral hospitals are landmark facilities. He directed the union chairman to compile a comprehensive list of health workers and the required shortage for the attention of the state governor His Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson. He emphasizes that issues like this is what has necessitated government's reforms in the civil service.
In same vain, the Hon. Commissioner for Health, Prof. Ebitimitula Etebu while reiterating the call on the health workers to end the strike to save lives already endangered in the hospitals, reveals that Bayelsa State pays its health workers higher than any other state in the country. Prof. Etebu noted that the employment of 204 health professionals by the state government last year are amongst far-reaching measures government has taken to strengthen the health sector.
On his part, Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade John B. Ndiomu commends the government's quick response to the health workers strike. He reasoned that such swift action from the Hon. Commissioner for Labour, Employment and Productivity will reduce the spate of long disagreement between labour unions and state government.
No comments:
Post a Comment