BREAKING: Reprieve As JOHESU Suspends Strike

The Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, has suspended its nationwide strike.

The union has also directed all members to resume work on Monday, the 4th of June.

The directive was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of the National Executive Council meeting of JOHESU and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations in Abuja.

The suspension of the 43-day old strike followed the intervention of the National Industrial Court, NIC, which offered to take over the mediation process between the striking health workers and the government.

The communiqué read in part, “The various gains from the meetings with the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, were presented to the NEC of JOHESU.

“After exhaustive deliberations and discussions, the NEC in session approved that the six-week old strike be suspended this day Thursday, May 31, 2018 because of the sympathy the unions have for the suffering Nigerian masses and also to pave way for further negotiations to continue on Monday, June 4, 2018.”

Recall that Senate President Bukola Saraki recently met with the leadership of JOHESU and a federal government delegation to find a lasting solution to the strike.

Negotiations between JOHESU and the federal government has been deadlocked, crippling activities in hospitals across the nation.

The striking workers are asking for parity in terms of salary with medical doctors, but the government through the Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, said the demand is neither practicable nor acceptable, pleading that instead, salaries and wages of the health workers would be adjusted.