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Nurses, midwives union suspend strike
Parents and children stuck at the children’s ward at Mulago National Referral Hospital on May 26, 2022 as health workers hanged their gloves over grievances yet to be addressed the government. PHOTO | FRANK BAGUMA
The president of Uganda Nurses and Midwives Union (UNMU), Mr Justus Cherop, has ordered all its members to resume work today, lessening the crisis in hospitals resulting from a chain of strikes by health workers over low pay.
But sources within the union told this publication that some nurses and midwives are not in agreement with the decision because the government has failed to tell the health workers what they will be earning in the next financial year.
Mr Cherop confirmed to Daily Monitor yesterday that they have suspended the strike which started on May 26. He didn’t give details.
The cadres were striking because of the delay by the government to implement the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) of 2018, which required the government to pay certificate holders Shs1.3m, diploma holders Shs3m and degree holders Shs4.8m.
This particular industrial action was triggered by a leaked document from the Ministry of Public Health which indicated that doctors got Shs5m in the enhanced salary –the agreed on amount- but other cadres like nurses and allied health professionals did not get the pay rise to the level agreed on in the CBA.
Other sources within the health sector have, however, said nurses and midwives have put Mr Cherop on fire for calling off the strike without getting the commitment from the government.
The sources also said a section of nurses and midwives are alleging that Mr Cherop took bribes from the government to call off the strike.
“For now, we can say nurses and midwives are negotiating whether or not to suspend the strike. In the structure released earlier by the Public Service, the amounts in the enhanced salary is below the CBA. The Ministry of Public Service met with the UNMU committee and agreed to release the revised salary structure on June 16. So Mr Cherop was like we should suspend the strike until June 16 but other members are not in agreement,” the source said.
We were unable to get a comment on the allegations from Mr Cherop as he had not responded to our messages by press time.
