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A new proposal to end the protracted doctors' strike has been crafted. This came after the intervention of the umbrella workers' body and a human rights groups.
The newly drafted return-to-work formula (RTWF) is just awaiting Government approval.
Several amendments and conditions among them withdrawal of all court cases have also been tabled.
Attached to the RTWF is a 'plan of action for the inter-party mediation team' that seeks to extend the seven-day ultimatum issued by the Employment and labour Relations Court if a solution will not have been reached by Monday next week.
In the plan of action, both parties are required to show their commitment in writing to negotiate in good faith and that the process is viewed as a mediation and not arbitration.
Doctors have also demanded that at the bare minimum, the talks should be guided by the 2013 collective bargaining agreement (CBA).
The new talks are being overseen by the Central Organisation of Trade Unions Secretary General Francis Atwoli and mediators from the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights led by commissioner Patricia Nyaundi.
After the mediators met with doctors' union officials, it was proposed that the 2013 CBA be amended to fit the current dynamics of the country's governance structure.
This should also resolve and streamline clauses or articles not previously agreed on.
Among them is Article Four on remuneration that seeks to have the highest paid doctor take home Sh852,000 and the lowest paid Sh325,000.
The formula acknowledges the CBA as it is does not recognise county governments, yet the 47 devolved units are the employers of at least 80 per cent of doctors.
It was also prescribed that all 47 county governments, Kenyatta National Hospital, Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital and Kenya Medical Research Institute should sign \ recognition agreement with the doctors' union.
The recognition agreement with Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) should also extend to all public universities' medical schools.
Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu, CoG Chairman Peter Munya and Human Resource Chairman James Ongwae are expected to sign the document if accepted.
"That the above agreements be effected before KMPDU calls off the strike," the RTWF states.
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