[size=14pt]Lagos nurses go on strike, public health system paralysed[/size]
By Gbenro Adeoye
March 17, 2011 06:46AM

Lagos State’s public healthcare system was further weakened when nurses and midwives across state-owned hospitals embarked on an indefinite strike on Thursday. The strike affects the state teaching hospital, 26 general hospitals and over 270 primary health care centres across Lagos. The state chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives is pressing for the full payment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS), an improved salary structure currently enjoyed by their colleagues in federal health institutions across the country; and eight months’ arrears of clinical duty allowance.

The nurses voted to go on strike at a congress held at their secretariat in Agidingbi. The state chairman of the association, also called NANNM, Isaiah Badejo, said the strike would start by Thursday morning “because the seven-day ultimatum given to the state government expires by 12 midnight.”

Mr. Badejo said that the state government had offered instead an abridged version called the Lagos State Consolidated Health Salary Structure (LACONHESS), which the nurses rejected.

“They compressed steps 1 to 15 to just steps 1 and 2 in the one offered to us,” Mr. Badejo said. “This means that everybody on steps 1 to 6 will now fall into step 1 of their new structure and everyone from step 6 to step 15 will now be in step 2, and the nurses are not happy. They want 100 percent implementation of the CONHESS table with the steps implemented point to point.”

The nurses are joining the state’s doctors who have been on strike for more than five weeks over similar issues.

A breakdown

Under the former salary structure called CONTISS (Consolidated Tertiary Institutions Salary Structure), a chief nursing officer on grade level 14 step 11, running shift duty, earns N155,000. The same nurse will earn N277,000 under CONHESS. What the state government is offering under LACONHESS to the same nurse is N232,000. The nurses are demanding that Lagos should “implement in verbatim the federal government CONHESS circular for the entire nurses and midwives in the state”.

“Once these issues on ground are resolved, we will call the congress to decide on calling off the strike,” Mr. Badejo added.

Placards displayed by health workers at the congress read: “Enough is enough” and “We want full CONHESS”.

“We don’t want to see letters,” one health worker said. “What we want to see is reality, and we are not calling off the strike until we see full CONHESS.”

Another worker said: “Government has been maltreating us because majority of us are women; with all the work we do in Lagos, now is the time for them to take us seriously. We will remain resolute; it is one decision,” added another.

Demand for equality

In 2010, the federal government announced its decision to start implementing its new salary scales for health workers in federal health institutions, prompting agitations from their colleagues in state-owned institutions. While the salary scale for pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists, physiotherapists, radiology and imaging scientists, optometrists, nurses and other health workers in federal medical agencies are now based on CONHESS, the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS) is for medical and dental officers in the same agencies on the federal level.

The call for the implementation of CONMESS, along with some other issues, led to the 14-week strike observed last year by Lagos doctors, who argued that the improved salary package would solve the problem of the brain drain affecting the medical profession. Lagos health workers have continued to base their arguments on a huge workload caused by the state’s large population. For instance, while the World Health Organisation’s recommended doctor: population ratio standard is 1:600, the state’s ratio stands at 1:1,504 (figures are from the list of doctors in the last edition of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria register). There seem to be discrepancies in the reporting of doctor’s figures in the state. Lagos reportedly has 11,971 doctors in its public hospitals, federal and state, according to the Medical and Dental Council register, and the state government’s estimated population figure is 18 million. But the state health ministry has put the number of doctors in private and state-owned health facilities at 2,435, excluding federal hospitals; with state health facilities accounting for 1,093 of the figure.

‘We need nurses’

Speaking on the strike, Taofeek Majolagbe, vice chairman of the Medical Guild, made up of doctors in state hospitals, said: “It doesn’t speak good for patients at all. Even if the Medical Guild suspends its strike, there is little the doctors can do without the nurses there. We put out a plan to save someone’s life, but it is the nurses who carry out most of the instructions. They are on strike because of the same reason we have been on strike for so long, and this shows that there is a problem with the health system. It also shows that doctors are not greedy and stubborn like the government has been painting it; government saw it coming and should have prevented it. I will urge the government to address all the issues.”

At a forum on eradicating polio in Lagos last week, Jide Idris, the state health commissioner, told journalists that the state government was in constant negotiation with the striking doctors and that the issue would resolved soon. However, he refused to say when that would be. Efforts to reach Mr. Idris for comments on the nurses’ strike were unsuccessful as his mobile phone number was not available.

http://234next.com/csp/cms/sites/Next/News/Metro/Health/5683568-146/story.csp

What should be the first on the priority list of the state government? Shouldn't it be the health of the masses? The nurses & midwives might have gone too far by going on strike because of the patients that would require their attention, but the state government should review the case and take immediate and proper action. Renegotiate with them or something or else, lives(patients') are at risk.

All hail messiah Fashola!

Abbycrown:

What should be the first on the priority list of the state government? Shouldn't it be the health of the masses? The nurses & midwives might have gone too far by going on strike because of the patients that would require their attention, but the state government should review the case and take immediate and proper action. Renegotiate with them or something or else, lives(patients') are at risk.

I would not be happy if any of my loved ones is to be affected by their actions but also i have to consider their own point of view. They have to be paid the agreed salaries and whatever agreements the state government has entered with them. Striking is the only way to pass your message across and sorry negotiation will never work in this case so let everyone do their bit to resolve this issue.

Ok, some said earlier the doctors were being greedy for demanding that govt sticks to agreements. Are the nurses being greedy too?
People just dont want to face facts, Fashola has done well in lagos but one main area of failure is in health.While its good to erect buildings and paint them, you need to ensure there are motivated people to work in those facilities.
I think the AC government need to leave fashola some money to pay health workers in the state.
Methinks if it were up to him alone these won't be problems, but there's Bola Tinubu pulling all the strings(and probably the money too)behind the scene.
Shame on the the government. People's health means nothing to them.

what is the meaning of this strikes? in our health-care system. do they want the sick to all die off? this is madnessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

reindeer:

Ok, some said earlier the doctors were being greedy for demanding that govt sticks to agreements. Are the nurses being greedy too?
People just dont want to face facts, Fashola has done well in lagos but one main area of failure is in health.While its good to erect buildings and paint them, you need to ensure there are motivated people to work in those facilities.
I think the AC government need to leave fashola some money to pay health workers in the state.
Methinks if it were up to him alone these won't be problems, but there's Bola Tinubu pulling all the strings(and probably the money too)behind the scene.
Shame on the the government. People's health means nothing to them.

The fact is Fashola is nothing but a puppet while the Corrupt Tinubu is the puppet master.He builds and repair Road and what else is he doing for Lagosians,absolutely nothing!This is the Big Mouth guy that wants a debate with his political seniors(GEJ) He should now debate the Doctors and Nurses, the ACN believe in talking too much as if too many lies can become true overnight.

if them want Federal govt salary, then resign & take up fed govt job, which state pays fed salary?

the so called pay in federal govt is wat the Niger-Delta is fightin & bombing every where cuz if Niger Delta is given its due, there will be no big Federal govt salary,


These ppl own too much abeg!

i don tire for these workers really.Do they now work for the federal govt.While the fed govt is busy wasting resources on mundane things, with less workers to pay their salary and more oil money .If the workers want fed govt salary they should tell fed govt to take over the lagos state govt secretariat so that we know their salary is paid by govt.This is what happens when we have a clueless govt.federalism means every state negotiate with workers what the state can pay not fed govt declaring one stupid salary structure.
anyway nigeria is run by ignorant fools so no wonder.

So the FG introduced a new pay scale for FEDERAL hospitals.

Nurses who work at LAGOS STATE hospitals are striking because Lagos State won't implement the pay scale for FEDERAL hospitals 

A pay scale that Lagos State (and in fact no states) had any say on?

How is their position justified 

They are working for Lagos State, not the FG. So why demand the FG pay scale?

So long as their pay scale is commensurate with that of their peers in private practice/similarly expensive states, then I think they are being fairly treated.

I'm not sure what the answer is in the short-term to this puzzle, but in the long term the power of these unions need to be broken. How to break the union power, I'm not sure how to do, though.

Hrm, in the short term. . . perhaps Fashola should just agree to their demands and renege after the elections. A bit dishonest and immoral. . . but since they feel the need to play a dirty game, he can roll in the mud a bit too.

This is the FG's fault, trust me if i was the president i woulkd first of all  remove or reduce the powers of the union jus Llike THACHER did. This people cannot hold the nation to a randsome.  Federal nurses got an increase doesnt mean it should be the same with the state. This was never in the 2011 lagos budget, the federal government did not make provision for it so were do they expect the government to get the money from. IT IS HIGH TIME THE FG REVISIT THE ISSUE OF REVENUE ALLOCATION OR  SIMPLE REDUCE THE POWERS OF THE UNIONS (LABOUR UNION).

youngmonie:

This is the FG's fault, trust me if i was the president i woulkd first of all  remove or reduce the powers of the union jus lkik thacher did. This people cannot hold the nation to a randsome.  Federal nurses got an increase doesnt mean it should be the same with the state. This was never in the 2011 lagos budget, the federal government did not make provision for it so were do they expect the government to get the money from. IT IS HIGH TIME THE FG REVISDIT THE ISSUE OF REVENUE ALLOCATION OR  SIMPLE REDUCE THE POWERS OF THE UNIONS (LABOUR UNION).

It is pure blackmail. Lagos State has already passed a budget for the year. Nurses decide to strike. If you don't give into their demands, innocent citizens die.

If you do give into their demands, you have to redo the budget and raise taxes on the people. Not to mention the additional pressure of them doing it right before an election.

How is this not completely evil, what the nurses are doing?

In what civilized country are public workers in critical services (healthcare, police, firefighters, etc) allowed to strike completely like this? Partial strikes yes, but complete ones. . . where does this happen, when the consequences of striking are loss of life/property for citizens?

This medical workers forget that they are civil servants; why should the state be compelled to pay what federal is paying?

reindeer:

Ok, some said earlier the doctors were being greedy for demanding that govt sticks to agreements. Are the nurses being greedy too?
People just dont want to face facts, Fashola has done well in lagos but one main area of failure is in health.While its good to erect buildings and paint them, you need to ensure there are motivated people to work in those facilities.
I think the AC government need to leave fashola some money to pay health workers in the state.
Methinks if it were up to him alone these won't be problems, but there's Bola Tinubu pulling all the strings(and probably the money too)behind the scene.
Shame on the the government. People's health means nothing to them.

pLEASE DONT BRING POLITICS INTO THIS ISSUES. This is a matter of policy and fault of the FG. If the federal government is taking over 52% of revenue and leaving the rest for 36 states to share were is d money for salary increase and to consider the fact that it was not in the 2011 budget. Theres always a simple alternative that leaders have failed to do because they can always influenecv labour when it comes to election period. They should av reduced the power of the union since all these years.

i am almost thinkin this is just an attempt by opposition forces to sabotage this guys second term agenda,abi y is it dat its election year dat dese strikes are nw prominent, cos me i dont understand o

youngmonie:

pLEASE DONT BRING POLITICS INTO THIS ISSUES. This is a matter of policy and fault of the FG. If the federal government is taking over 52% of revenue and leaving the rest for 36 states to share were is d money for salary increase and to consider the fact that it was not in the 2011 budget. Theres always a simple alternative that leaders have failed to do because they can always influenecv labour when it comes to election period. They should av reduced the power of the union since all these years.

This is some strange logic.
Why should the FG give states any money? Is there any country in the World where such is done? It is meant to be the other way round, the states should be giving the FG money for survival. Lets balme ourselves for being too lazy, rather than wait for the FG to come and feed each and every one of us.

Let me tell you a little secret, Londons budget is several times the size of the Nigerian budget, and London is just a city! Of course, London pays taxes to the UK govt, and the UK govt doesn't give London a penny. Even Mexico city in a fellow developing country produces more money than the whole of Nigeria.

There are certain things we really shouldn't be saying at this point in our 50 year history, cos they are bloody embarrassing. Let fashola pay his doctors and nurses, or reach some deal with them, it isn't and will never be the FG's business. Every state should try to generate enough money, so that surplus goes to the FG, it is an abberation for states to go to Abuja for money.

[b]
Would strike be an option for these nurses and doctors if they were working for a private hospital? [/b]I'm sure we all know the answer to this question! The power of these evil unions need to be broken once and for all. If Lagos state health workers feel they are not getting the right remuneration, simply resign and go work for a private hospital (where they get paid far less) or go work for the federal government.


If I was Fashola, I would simply dismiss all the workers and advertise for new ones. They will lose in court as there is no court that can force an employer to pay the wages his employee is demanding and still be required to keep that employee. We have far better doctors in India, China and Malaysia etc earning the equivalent of N75000 per month. These are countries that Nigerians flock to for health-care and those health professionals do not even work for their government like our own vision-less health workers.


They strike because there is no accountability and they know they can get away with it. If they can, why can't this unions call for strike in private hospitals where they pay FAR LESS and see if those employees will heed them? They know what will happen so they won't

eku_bear:

It is pure blackmail. Lagos State has already passed a budget for the year. Nurses decide to strike. If you don't give into their demands, innocent citizens die.

If you do give into their demands, you have to redo the budget and raise taxes on the people. Not to mention the additional pressure of them doing it right before an election.

How is this not completely evil, what the nurses are doing?

So the 8 months arrears of clinical allowance they are demanding for, is it an evil demand too?

eku_bear:

In what civilized country are public workers in critical services (healthcare, police, firefighters, etc) allowed to strike completely like this? Partial strikes yes, but complete ones. . . where does this happen, when the consequences of striking are loss of life/property for citizens?

'allowed to strike'?
Perhaps in your opinion they should be arrested and set upon by dogs and thugs.
In the 'civilized countries' you talk about, these people would not be 'allowed' to go on a full scale strike after giving notice and a warning strike. It is only in Nigeria that a critical service personnel will give a warning strike and the powers that be will continue on with their lives as if nothing happened.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Partial strikes'. When full scale strikes have little effect on the pot-bellied politicians, why would a 'partial strike' succeed?

kalokalo:

[b]
Would strike be an option for these nurses and doctors if they were working for a private hospital? [/b]I'm sure we all know the answer to this question! The power of these evil unions need to be broken once and for all. If Lagos state health workers feel they are not getting the right remuneration, simply resign and go work for a private hospital (where they get paid far less) or go work for the federal government.


If I was Fashola, I would simply dismiss all the workers and advertise for new ones. They will lose in court as there is no court that can force an employer to pay the wages his employee is demanding and still be required to keep that employee. We have far better doctors in India, China and Malaysia etc earning the equivalent of N75000 per month. These are countries that Nigerians flock to for health-care and those health professionals do not even work for their government like our own vision-less health workers.


They strike because there is no accountability and they know they can get away with it. If they can, why can't this unions call for strike in private hospitals where they pay FAR LESS and see if those employees will heed them? They know what will happen so they won't

Haha, such wise words indeed.
Sack thousands of midwives, nurses, radiologists etc and advertise for others. Naturally, just like Fashola it seems the lives that will be lost in the months between dismissal and full re-staffing is of no importance to you. That is if you're going to be able to fully re-staff.
You next gem of 'wisdom' is even more hilarious. Sack Nigerians and replace them with thousands of expatriates who will definitely earn more, even without the necessary expenses like housing. Genius!

I'm not sure where you get the idea that many of these people are even earning up to the 75k you're mentioning. Either way, you're pretty hilarious.

texazzpete:

So the 8 months arrears of clinical allowance they are demanding for, is it an evil demand too?

Obviously not. Pay them whatever was agreed upon. But they are in no position to demand the federal payscale.

'allowed to strike'?
Perhaps in your opinion they should be arrested and set upon by dogs and thugs.
In the 'civilized countries' you talk about, these people would not be 'allowed' to go on a full scale strike after giving notice and a warning strike. It is only in Nigeria that a critical service personnel will give a warning strike and the powers that be will continue on with their lives as if nothing happened.

*shrug* A law that limits the ability of critical services like police, health professionals and other critical and sensitive positions to strike is not a bad, strange, or cruel law.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'Partial strikes'. When full scale strikes have little effect on the pot-bellied politicians, why would a 'partial strike' succeed?

So what do you suggest? I don't want to see the state gov't blackmailed, nor do I want to see tons of citizens die. The nurses have made their point and need to sit down and reasonably negotiate lest lives are lost.

@kalokalo: It is hard to sack them all. Will take too long to recruit new ones. Perhaps the hospitals need to be privatized and decentralized. Some sort of healthcare plan where the Lagos State government contracts out the work to a private company? Perhaps this will limit their ability to strike? I'm not sure.

This is one of those situations where a private corporation will have far greater ability to avoid being manipulated by politically-adept nurses who hold you at gunpoint (figuratively speaking) one month to an election. Somehow private corporations are much better at union-busting than governments are

eku_bear:

@kalokalo: It is hard to sack them all. Will take too long to recruit new ones. Perhaps the hospitals need to be privatized and decentralized. Some sort of healthcare plan where the Lagos State government contracts out the work to a private company? Perhaps this will limit their ability to strike? I'm not sure.

This is one of those situations where a private corporation will have far greater ability to avoid being manipulated by politically-adept nurses who hold you at gunpoint (figuratively speaking) one month to an election. Somehow private corporations are much better at union-busting than governments are

So when you privatize hospitals and clinics, what happens to Government run health programmes? What happens to free healthcare to kids and nursing mothers?

Please stop mentioning this 'one month to election' thing, i see you as one of the more intelligent fellows here on NL but adopting the rhetoric of the political worms is not doing you any favours. Why are people supposed to suspend their demands just because it's near election period?
You call it blackmail, i call it leverage. Warning strikes had been issued and had not been heeded. Why should they wait for a Government to cook up new excuses?

This is not about 'Union busting'. it is about appreciation of the people working in such tough conditions. These lagos health workers work FAR harder than their counterparts elsewhere, including those in the Federal Government employment. If you truly stand for truth and justice, why no question the decency of State Governors that suddenly announce many free medical initiatives to their adoring public without considering the health workers whose work load has just been tripled?
Don't let the N232,000 in the NEXT Article deceive you; that is the proposed salary for a Chief Nursing officer on Grade 14 (some people only get to this kind of level after 15 years of service). The people putting long shifts at work on Grade 7, what do you think they go home with? Do we really need our health workers to scrounge and suffer for a living?

When state governments rolls out new schemes to tackle this issue in his state, they'll be lauded by everyone. But little attention is paid to the people working behind the scenes until they protest like this.

I remember Eko Ile and myself stating that the Nurses will be next, now it has happened, let Fashola use all of the 2011 budget to pay those in health care, afterall, when our health is taken care of, the state will progress, teacher do not need salaries, other civil servants can go to hell, why cant these people resign if their salaries are not enough, there is a need to overhaul the union laws, if you are involved in critical sector, you can only do partial strikes.

hercules07:

I remember Eko Ile and myself stating that the Nurses will be next, now it has happened, let Fashola use all of the 2011 budget to pay those in health care, afterall, when our health is taken care of, the state will progress, teacher do not need salaries, other civil servants can go to hell, why cant these people resign if their salaries are not enough, there is a need to overhaul the union laws, if you are involved in critical sector, you can only do partial strikes.

Why don't you geniuses tell us what 'partial strikes' are?

If the Government designates any sector as 'critical', then it must give it special attention to ensure everything runs smoothly. Shebi you're happy to hear that these same health workers are being owed up to eight months arrears for their clinical allowance?

Texas,

They should be paid their clinical allowances ( show us proof sha o), critical sectors are not necessarily the highest paid sectors, abi firemen earn more than finance guys ni?

Seriously, I blame everything on Fashola, he's messing up and not showing real leadership.

You cant keep dragging your tails indecisively while people are dying, if he's gonna pay them , go ahead and pay and if not, tell them point blank to Bleep off.


Fashola dropped the ball on this one,

On behalf of Fashola, they should bleep off.

@hercules- you won't be saying that if a ralation of your was at the point of death

If my relation was at a point of death, is it the striking nurses or doctors that will attend to him or her, we can not be held hostage by these people, if the conditions of service is terrible, they should resign and go for private employment, abi na by force?