Doctors vow to continue with strike
Doctors vow to continue with strikeWritten by Masuzyo Chakwe, Mutuna Chanda, Christopher Miti and Mwila Chansa
Sunday, June 14, 2009 4:10:47 PM
THE Zambia Medical Association (ZMA) has expressed concern over the slow response by the government over the strike by health workers. And Resident Doctors Association of Zambia (RDAZ) president Dr Crispin Moyo said his members will continue with their strike because they are not unionised workers.
ZMA president Dr Swebby Macha said health workers expected the government to show seriousness to the Zambian people by giving the strike urgent attention. He said that the slow response from the government over the strike was worrying.
He said it had taken long for the government to start speaking, as though there was no urgent issue on the table.
Dr Macha said the government needed to be pro-action and show compassion to citizens. He called for a speedy resolution to the standoff to both parties and find a common ground as the strike was putting patients at risk.
Dr Macha appealed to the Ministry of Health to urgently address the conditions of service for health workers.
"The health sector is currently operating on 50 per cent capacity. As an association, we want to see a deliberate plan aimed at returning health workers, especially increasing their living wage and other allowances. We also want to see health workers accessing building loans. The problem is high rentals. If there can be a deliberate plan to offer housing loans and in the short term increase housing allowances to enable them access decent housing," he said.
Dr Macha said currently, it was only senior doctors, midwives, student doctors, nurses on contract and nursing students who were working.
Dr Macha also said theatres were only dealing with emergencies.
And Dr Moyo said resident doctors would continue with the strike because they were not unionised workers and whatever the unions had agreed had no implications on their withdrawal of labour.
He said all junior doctors were faced with eviction notices, pending and unpaid rentals. Dr Moyo said doctors were not accommodated and some were even squatting with other doctors.
"Let those charged with responsibility do their work," he said.
Dr Moyo said there was about K600 million in arrears and this would keep on accumulating.
Zambia National Union of Health and Allied Workers (ZNUHAW) president Ozias Banda said there had been no reaction over the 15 per cent awarded to health workers and they would wait till Monday to see if the workers would resume work.
Banda said the agreement was a legal document, which implied the workers, should go back to work.
He said getting back to work would be the best idea for the health workers.
A check at some clinics in Lusaka found them deserted.
At Chainama Clinic, only the maternity ward was open.
At the University Teaching Hospital, there were six sisters in charge who were giving each other shifts which started at 07:30 hours and ended at 20:00 hours.
At Chilenje Clinic, the situation was the same as the clinic only had six patients in the admission.
People getting anti retroviral medicine from the clinic complained about delays.
And nurses in Ndola have warned that they would pass a vote of no confidence in their national union leaders if they sign for a 15 per cent salary increment.
In an interview yesterday after unionized nurses held a meeting in the cafeteria of Ndola Central Hospital, Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union of Zambia (CSAWUZ) Ndola branch chairperson Joy Beene said the workers had declared that if the national union leaders signed for the 15 per cent salary increments, the collective agreement would not be recognized by the workers.
"People have categorically refused the 15 per cent [increment] and they are ready to be fired," Beene said. "If they sign the 15 per cent it will be total war! We shall not accept that and we'll pass a vote of no confidence in the national leaders."
Beene appealed to national union leaders to take the demands of health workers seriously.
Health workers resolved to meet at Arthur Davison Children's Hospital tomorrow.
And Caritas Zambia in Mazabuka has called on the government to quickly find a solution to the strike action by health workers, which has resulted in service provision completely paralysed at the only referral hospital in the district.
Caritas Mazabuka co-ordinator, Simon Musune told ZANIS in Mazabuka that patients were being discharged prematurely at Mazabuka district hospital because of lack of personnel to attend to them.
Musune said it was sad to note that even people living with HIV and AIDS who urgently needed Anti Retroviral Therapy were being turned away because health workers were on strike. He said government and the union leadership should urgently conclude the negotiations and help poor families access medical attention.
Meanwhile, a survey conducted by ZANIS in the morning at Mazabuka district hospital revealed that four patients were currently admitted while, several others had been prematurely discharged.
The situation was similar at the children's, female and labour wards.
Further investigations by ZANIS revealed that nurses resorted to disguising themselves by wearing plain clothes.
Mazabuka hospital administrator John Zimba said the hospital was operating at half capacity because of the strike action by medical staff.
In Chipata, the strike action at Chipata General Hospital has forced nursing students to start operating from the wards.
When approached for comment, hospital executive director Dr Matthews Ng'ambi referred all queries to the Provincial Health Director Dr Kennedy Malama.
And a source within the hospital said the situation was bad as some management workers were forced to work long hours.
Eastern Province Health Workers Union of Zambia chairperson Otton Kaluba said health workers in all the districts were contemplating to go on strike.
And teachers in Ndola have rejected the 15 per cent salary increment that their national union leaders had agreed with the government.
The teachers' branch union leaders who met at Ndola Basic School yesterday resolved not to report back to work and demanded that their national union leaders re-open negotiations for improved conditions of service.
Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT) Ndola district chairperson Nibbu Nyasulu also demanded that the government should pay all outstanding arrears to teachers.
"We have resolved to pursue avenues of withholding our union contributions to our national unions," Nyasulu said. "We are collecting signatures from all our members and all the signatures we'll collect will be evidence that we are no longer interested in them chewing our money without them representing us effectively."
Nyasulu said teachers had told their national union leaders that they wanted salary increment of at least K1.5 million across the board and housing allowances of at least K750,000.
Nyasulu said the national union leaders went and signed for less than they had demanded, which was nowhere near average of their demands.
He said the 15 per cent that national union leaders had signed for translated into K120,000 salary increment for those who were in the lowest category.
Nyasulu said the teachers demands were reflective of the position that other public service workers such as nurses had taken. He said teachers would hold a general meeting on Friday dubbed 'black Friday'.
Health workers unions' leaders attended part of the meeting that teachers held in solidarity.
The two workers groups agreed to jointly hold a procession on Friday that would culminate into a general meeting.
In Kitwe, teachers have vowed to continue with their strike despite the signing of the new collective agreement between their national union leaders and the government.
In a joint statement by BETUZ Kitwe district chairperson Mpundu Katochi, SESTUZ's Evans Lifuka and ZNUT's Owen Mtonga, the teachers vowed to continue with their strike because the collective agreement did not meet their aspirations.
"Teachers have also rejected the 15 percent salary increment because it does not make sense and is insignificant," they stated.
They further demanded to be paid their fixed band housing allowances in full and not in piecemeal in addition to giving them the 10 per cent owner-occupier allowance to all deserving teachers.
"The union leadership is extremely disappointed with the dramatic turn of events that the national leaders went ahead to sign an empty collective agreement, contrary to the views of the provincial and district union leadership on the Copperbelt," read the statement. "When these leaders met us in Ndola they said they had not yet signed and members told them not to go ahead until all the contentious issues were addressed by government."
The teachers vowed that they would never again allow the government to treat them in anyway it pleased.
"It is a fallacy that the government has no money to pay teachers what belongs to them for over six years now when it has afforded to source money to pay members of parliament mid-term gratuity." they stated. "Members at the NCC are paid huge sums of money for dozing, getting over K9 million each in two weeks. Ironically, it becomes difficult to comprehend that when teachers demand what belongs to them, all they receive are intimidations by the so-called Copperbelt Permanent Secretary."
And education authorities in Mazabuka have warned striking teachers to resume work tomorrow or risk severe punishment. Mazabuka District Education Board Secretary, Darius Kaluba sounded the warning in a statement to ZANIS in Mazabuka.
Meanwhile, BETUZ provincial chairperson Mwangala Dyaunka said teachers would only resume after Monday's crucial review meeting. She said teachers from all the basic and high schools of Mazabuka would gather at Nakambala training school to review the strike action and whether to continue or not.
She said her union had welcomed the signing of the collective agreement but stated that a task force committee had been set up to press government to pay the outstanding allowances owed to the members.
Labels: HEALTHCARE, STRIKE, SWEBBY MACHA, ZMA
posted by MrK @ 3:15 PM
1 Comments:
Hello Everybody,
My name is Mrs Sharon Sim. I live in Singapore and i am a happy woman today? and i told my self that any lender that rescue my family from our poor situation, i will refer any person that is looking for loan to him, he gave me happiness to me and my family, i was in need of a loan of S$250,000.00 to start my life all over as i am a single mother with 3 kids I met this honest and GOD fearing man loan lender that help me with a loan of S$250,000.00 SG. Dollar, he is a GOD fearing man, if you are in need of loan and you will pay back the loan please contact him tell him that is Mrs Sharon, that refer you to him. contact Dr Purva Pius,via email:(urgentloan22@gmail.com) Thank you.
BORROWERS APPLICATION DETAILS
1. Name Of Applicant in Full:……..
2. Telephone Numbers:……….
3. Address and Location:…….
4. Amount in request………..
5. Repayment Period:………..
6. Purpose Of Loan………….
7. country…………………
8. phone…………………..
9. occupation………………
10.age/sex…………………
11.Monthly Income…………..
12.Email……………..
Regards.
Managements
Email Kindly Contact: urgentloan22@gmail.com
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home