Nurses Union Secretary General Seth Panyako has dismissed the return to work formula signed between the union and the government and said the nurses strike is still on.
He said the deal that was signed on Saturday was not legally binding as the union officials who signed it usurped his powers and those of the union’s governing council.
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“The strike is still on. I am the only person mandated by the nurses union to call of the strike under authorization from the governing council,” Panyako said during an interview with NTV on Saturday night.
“If you heard what they said (during the signing of the deal) nobody said that the strike has been called off. You cannot tell people to go back to work when you have not called off the strike,” added Panyako.
The secretary general clarified that the duties of his office, including calling for and calling off nurses’ strikes, can only be delegated to other union officials in writing in line with Section 2(a) of the Labour Relations Act.
“In fact one of us can move to court and challenge the deal and it will be thrown out,” he said.
Panyako’s sentiments came hot on the heels of a deal signed by deputy secretary Maurice Opetu and chairman John Bii and Health CS Cleopa Mailu, apparently signaling an end to the weeklong nurses’ strike that had paralyzed operations in public health facilities across the country.
Panyako however rubbished the pact claiming the officials acted in greed and went against his advice not to sign the deal after allegedly being bribed by the government.
“When they came out of the negotiations on Saturday at Afya House, I told them not to go back until after the governing council meets on Monday, but they could hear none of that,” he said.
“They went to buy new suits in excitement that they are going to Statehouse,” added Panyako.
He said that the officials agreed to a raw deal that does not cater for the nurses’ needs as stipulated in the harmonized Collective Bargaining Agreement of 2013 whose implementation they are pushing.
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“The government has already brought a discrepancy. In Job Group ‘L’, doctors are being given Sh36,000 in allowances and nurses are being given Sh20,000. In Job Group ‘M’ and above, doctors are getting Sh42,000 while nurses are getting Sh15,000,” Panyako said.
The new development now brings a new twist to the saga as Bii and Opetu are set to meet the governing council on Monday to ratify the deal.
“If they feel that the national governing council is going to rubber-stamp what they have done, they are completely wrong. These are men and women who breathe fire, they can even sack me,” said Panyako.
He told the interview that there would still be two pertinent issues that would be left pending even if the governing council accepted the deal, one being the withdrawal of arrest warrants btained by the Council of Governors against union officials.
“One of the issues when doing return to work formulas is to withdraw cases. How do we go back to work with warrants of arrests hanging on our necks?” paused Panyako.
He lamented that the Recognition Agreement with county governments must also be signed prior to the union calling off the strike as it is one of the demands they have raised.
Panyako said that he was ready to resign if nurses will not back his stand to reject the new return to work deal.
“If the nurses will not be speaking with me tomorrow (Monday), I will definitely be leaving the union. I have no business leading people who do not want me,” Panyako said.