Doctors and nurses begin strike as pay rise talks with State collapse

Health workers went on a nationwide strike yesterday, accusing the Government of dishonesty in their pay hike talks.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) and Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists' Union (KMPDU) both accused the Government of failing to honour deals from 2013 that awarded improved salaries.

KNUN Secretary General Seth Panyako said their members were forced to boycott work because the Government refused to give them a counter-offer, leading to the collapse of talks between the two sides.

Ouma Olunga, the KMPDU secretary general, also accused the Government of failing to implement a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) that gave them a 300 per cent pay rise.

Mr Panyako said negotiations that brought together nurses' representative, the Council of Governors and the Ministry of Health did not offer any solutions to the strike.

"Discussions collapsed because both the national and county governments offered the nurses nothing. They have been telling us they have no problem with our harmonised CBA yet they are not willing to put it in writing. Today, nurses are on strike yet some shameless people at the ministry are telling us to give them time to resolve the matter," Panyako said.

"The talks have collapsed and we are waiting for them to give us a proposal to sign. If there is no such proposal, the strike will continue. Nurses will only go back to work after the 2013 CBA is signed and implemented," he added.

Panyako said they not only wanted the CBA signed, but the Government would also have to assure them that there was money to implement the deal. They also want the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) to declare that it will not challenge the implementation. They want the assurances in writing from the National Treasury and SRC. 

He accused SRC of stalling the initial process to give nurses who previously worked under the defunct county councils and those hired by county governments from 2013 a pay rise.

"There are huge disparities in salaries among health workers which must be harmonised before we can call off the strike," Panyako said.

Dr Olunga promised the "mother of all strikes" if the Government failed to triple their salaries as contained in a CBA they signed, also in 2013.

The union leaders addressed hundreds of striking doctors in Nairobi before leading them in streets protests.

"Today, our message to Government is that nothing will stand between the doctors and the implementation of the CBA. You can get as many court orders as you want but we are defending the Constitution. We will defend it to our death," said Olunga.

"We have had enough mediocrity from the Government. We have endured long years in school and after that, we have had to endure ridicule and disrespect from people who do not know what the inside of a classroom looks like. The Government will either pay doctors or it will have none of them," he said.

Samuel Oroko, the KMPDU chairman, said: "The CBA must be implemented in full and that is what we want to hear. We want to make it very clear that we are determined to go on with the strike until our demands are met. We don't want to be taken in circles any more. Dialogue has come to an end. It is time to implement the CBA."

The figure doctors are demanding will see the lowest paid take home Sh342,000 per month as the highest paid pockets Sh940,000. Currently, the highest paid doctors earn Sh500,000 while the lowest gets Sh40,000.

Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu said the talks with the healthcare workers would continue today.