Patients get reprieve as nurses end strike
Patients stranded at Chuka County Referral Hospital on November 8, 2016 following a strike by nurses. The nurses union announced on November 25, 2016 that they will resume duty. PHOTO | ALEX NJERU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The nurses are demanding for promotions, improvement of working conditions and harmonisation of strenuous allowance, among others.
Nurses in Tharaka-Nithi County have called off a three-week strike to give the county government more time to meet their demands.
However, in a letter sent to Tharaka-Nithi County Public Service Board and the health chief officer by Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) Secretary-General Seth Panyako, the nurses will resume their strike on January 30, 2017 if the issues are not addressed.
“After the expiry of [the] suspension period, the nurses will be at liberty to commence another strike without prior notice to the county government if their demands will not have been fulfilled,” the letter reads in part.
This follows a successful meeting held on November 25 between the county government, led by executive Magdalene Njeru, and Knun county officials.
The nurses are demanding for promotions, improvement of working conditions and harmonisation of strenuous allowance, among others.
Speaking to the Nation on phone on Saturday, Knun branch secretary Kenneth Micheni said all nurses will resume duty on Monday.
Meanwhile, the doctor’s strike that has entered day six persists.
Their demands are similar to those of the nurses.
