Health

Strike: We’ll pay only those who work, FG tells resident doctors

The Federal Government has warned the members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to shelve their planned five-day warning strike.

The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the warning shortly after receiving a letter of notification from the NARD executive on the planned strike in Abuja on Tuesday, May 16.

The industrial action is billed to begin on Wednesday, May 17.

Ngige, who was reacting to the letter, delivered to his office on Tuesday, said he contacted the Minister of Health, who informed him that a meeting has been scheduled with the resident doctors on Wednesday.

The minister, in a statement issued by the Director, Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Olajide Oshundun, urged the doctors to avail themselves of the opportunity for social dialogue with their employer, rather than embark on warning strike, which he said is unknown to the law.

He added that the people seen at work are the ones to receive their pay, saying “if you don’t work, there will be no pay”.

He said: I will advise them to attend the meeting with the Minister of Health tomorrow. I will also advise them very strongly not to go on five-day warning strike.

“There is nothing like warning strike. A strike is a strike. If they want to take that risk, the options are there. It is their decision. They have the right to strike. You cannot deny them that right.

“But their employer has another right under Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, to withhold their pay for those five days. So, if the NARD has strike funds to pay their members for those five days, no problem.

“The Health Minister will instruct the teaching hospitals to employ adhoc people for those five days and they will use the money of the people who went on strike to pay the adhoc doctors.

“That is the ILO principles at decent work, especially for those rendering essential services. Lives should be protected. One of my sons is a resident doctor, I will advise him to go to work and sign the attendance register.”

On the five demands of the resident doctors, Ngige said the Federal Government lacks the powers to compel the states to domesticate the Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF).

He added that since health is in the residual list, where both the federal and state governments have the powers to legislate.

The minister stated that the job of the Federal Government was to make policy and where the states disagree, they were at liberty to make their own policy.

Ngige noted that the Federal Government cannot bully the states into domesticating the MRTF if they do not want to.

Regarding the issue of immediate payment of the MRTF to their members, he said it was appropriated in the 2023 budget, but has not been released, as the 2022 budget was still running, adding that those in 2022 have all been paid.

Ngige denied the claim by NARD that the Federal Government did not pay minimum wage consequential adjustment arrears to their members.

He added that all workers in the Education and Health Sectors and the defense agencies benefited from the adjustment.

Ngige noted that the resident doctors cannot declare a nationwide strike because some states were owing their members, saying the Federal Government cannot also dabble into the issue, being a state matter.

Ngige also said the Federal Government as the Executive arm of government cannot intervene in the bill at the National Assembly to bond doctors for five years, as it is a private member’s bill.

The minister further advised the doctors not to talk about 200 per cent pay rise, saying it was not feasible.

The Star