Resident Doctors Call Off Strike For Only Six Weeks

The National Association of Resident Doctors has suspended its nationwide strike for just six weeks.

This is coming two months after the industrial action began on August 2, over irregular payment of salaries, among other issues.

Stakeholders have had several meetings with NARD to ensure the doctors return to work.

The association had also ignored a ruling by the National Industrial Court, which asked the doctors to call off their strike.

But on Monday, the President of the association, Dr Godiya Ishaya, announced that they have decided to suspend the strike.

He added that the doctors will go back to work on Wednesday.

According to him “We are suspending the strike for six weeks to give room for movement in some of the items we noticed a stalemate. There was a stalemate in the enrollment of our members into the IPPIS and payment of their arrears.

“The government was invoking the trade dispute article 41, that is the ‘no work, no pay.’ And since they have been enrolled into IPPIS, it means there was not going to be any salary into their accounts. Without them being paid, they won’t get their arrears; that was a stalemate we felt we should give a window to see if the government can start paying them salaries and push their arrears into their accounts.

“On the issue of ‘no work, no pay,’ we have not agreed to forfeit our salaries. The strike was unnecessarily prolonged because of the government’s response to the strike. Instead of sitting on the table, the government decided to go to court and that kept prolonging negotiation.”