Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) says it will begin a warning strike Wednesday.
This follows the failure of the Federal Government to meet its demands on the proposed upward review of the consolidated medical salary structure, the association stated.
The doctors disclosed this at the end of a meeting of the NARD Extraordinary National Executive Council on Monday. NARD had earlier threatened to embark on strike if the government failed to meet its demands within two weeks.
Making the announcement, Dr.Orji Innocent, president of NARD, said the industrial action would commence on Wednesday, May 17, and end Monday, May 22, at 8am.
“NEC observed that despite several engagements by NARD with the government on the need to upwardly review the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) which was last reviewed over ten years ago, government has neither called NARD to the negotiation table nor taken any tangible step in addressing the issue,” the association wrote in a communiqué.
“NEC recalled that there have been previous ultimatums issued to the government by NARD on account of this problem of the review of the CONMESS salary structure,” Orji said in confirmation of the strike.
According to him, the Federal Government had also failed to pay the salary arrears of 2014, 2015 and 2016 to resident doctors.
Government was yet to comment on the issue as at the time of this report.
“NEC also reiterated that the previous collective bargaining agreement (CBA) on CONMESS stated clearly that the salary structure would be due for review after five years, but this has not been done since the implementation in 2014, though the approval was given in 2009.
“NEC demands an immediate increment in the CONMESS salary structure to the tune of 200% of the current gross salary of doctors, in addition to the new allowances included in the letter written by NARD to the honourable minister of health on the 7th of July 2022 for the review of CONMESS,” Dr Orji said in the statement.
