Nurses get up to Sh7,000 allowance

By PETER ORENGO

Striking health workers and the Government have agreed on a return-to-work formula after a meeting with Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

Officials of Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS) and Kenya Health Professional Society agreed with Government that health workers be given immediately extraneous allowance of between Sh2,500 and Sh7,000.

They also agreed that a task force be constituted immediately to look into medium and long-term solutions to problems affecting the health sector.

It will commence work on March 21, 2012 and will comprise relevant government ministries and union officials with the mandate of looking at workers salaries, allowances, working conditions, promotions and other benefits.

They also agreed that no officer would be victimised for participating in the strike and, therefore, all disciplinary letters, which had been issued to various health workers be withdrawn.

Withdraw case

However, health workers who failed to report on duty by yesterday were liable for disciplinary action.

Union officials who talked to The Standard indicated that they were satisfied with the offer from the Government but promised to engage it further. "We agreed that problems facing workers cannot be solved in a day. It was not just money that we wanted but for the Government to look at many other issues affecting the health sector," said Tom Odede, the UKCS secretary general.

Assistant minister in the Office of the Prime Minister Alfred Khang’ati, who represented the PM at a press conference, said the Government expects unions to withdraw a case they had filed in court.

"Now that we don’t have a dispute and issues about health workers are being tackled, we expect them to withdraw cases they filed in court," said Mr Khang’ati.

Health workers have been on strike for the last two weeks.