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The UNMU president Mr Justus Cherop Kiplangat said they decided to do this because the government has chosen to undermine them.
“There is industrial action beginning from tomorrow (today). We have rejected the letter from the Ministry of Public Service asking us to halt the planned industrial action,” he said.
He said the letter didn’t stipulate clearly how much the nurses will be getting yet they wanted to know how much they would get. In a May 16 letter to UNMU, the Minister of Public Service, Mr Wilson Mukasa Muruli, had appealed to the nurses to halt the planned strike.
Mr Cherop earlier said that the issue of salary disparity is of continuing concern to UNMU. He revealed that a nurse with a degree gets Shs2m and a medical doctor with a degree gets around Shs4m.
Those differences apparently send signals that nurses are not valued even when they spend around the same period in school to obtain a degree.
Mr Cherop said they need the salary for nurses with degrees increased from Shs2m to Shs4.8m. Apparently, doctors get Shs5m in the next financial year.
The strike comes at a time when a big number of allied health workers have laid down their tools. This is apparently over low pay and poor working conditions.
The Health Ministry and World Health Organization said the strike is having a devastating effect on healthcare.
The government employs around 27,000 nurses. This is a number the UNMU says is way too low compared to the current population that needs medical care.
The country has more than 120,000 nurses, many of them serving in private facilities or unemployed.
Check Also;
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- Doctors Announce Strike As Government Promises Them Better Working Conditions
- Medical Interns Announce Sit Down Strike Over Pay
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