JOHESU/ AHPA condemn physicians involvement in their welfare negotiations

By Vivian Onyebukwa

Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA), have condemned in strong terms the involvement of team of physicians by the Federal Ministry of Health in the negotiations of the welfare and accruing benefit packages of their members.
In a statement singed and made available to the press by the acting National Secretary of the associations, Matthew Ajurotu, the health organisations stated that such aberrations usually manifests at times of trade disputes when the Minister of Health would lead teams made up high numbers of physicians to the negotiating table on matters relating and pertaining exclusively to members of JOHESU and AHPA.
They have continually protested this development informally and amplifying the position by submitting that their members are not in any way involved in the welfare negotiation of physicians under the template of Nigeria Medical Association and National Association of Retail Druggists.
The organisations in the statement also claimed that the FMoH in recent years has been using Directorate of Hospital Services and its retinue of officials to truncate the aspirations of their members.
The statement referred to the most recent of these tendencies which it said, manifested in 2018 at the National Industrial Court of Nigeria inspired Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mediations between the federal government and JOHESU/AHPA when a serving Director of Hospital Services and his immediate predecessor jeopardised the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure.
“The JOHESU/AHPA has critically appraised this situation and we have strongly resolved to put a halt to it as it epitomises a travesty of justice and outright denigration of our rights to fair hearing as to continue to rely on the unproductive systems instituted by the FMoH in the quest for value addition in our reasonable service to consumers of Health in Nigeria”, the statement said.
They, therefore, demand that the Directorate of Human Resources and the Directorate of Legal Services, which are the ideal templates to negotiate personnel matters and get legal direction when necessary, must henceforth constitute the chunk of those who negotiate the welfare demand in trade dispute declared by JOHESU/AHPA.
They are also requesting that only a team comprising of the requisite and appropriate health professionals who must be non-physicians will be acceptable to them in future negotiations.
They two organisations, have also urged the federal government to pay withheld April and May 2018 salaries to its members before December 31, 2021. They affirmed that such gesture would bring great relief to it’s members this festive season as well as encourage them to measure the level of appreciation government shows to it’s various sacrifices as collaborators to boost the interest of consumers of health in the nation.
In addition, they encouraged government to allow the implementation of the payment of hazard allowance commence as an integral part of the December, 2021 wages of health workers.