Nurses in Machakos County have called off a planned industrial action following a last-minute deal with Governor Wavinya Ndeti.
The cancellation of the planned strike was announced at a joint press briefing co-hosted by the governor, senior officials of the county Health Department and officials of the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) in the county.
“As Kenya National Union of Nurses, Machakos branch, we hereby call off the intended strike that was scheduled to start at midnight today. We call upon our members not to proceed with the strike but to continue working as usual,” Machakos branch Knun secretary general Michael Saka said.
On July 3, the union issued a 21-day strike notice over the delayed implementation of numerous Collective Bargaining Agreement terms entered into between the nurses and the county government.
But on Wednesday morning, Governor Wavinya convened a meeting with union leaders in her office where an agreement was reached to have the planned withdrawal of labour by the health workers suspended.
Key among the offers that the governor tabled during the four-hour closed-door meeting was the hiring of additional staff to fill up the widening deficit arising from staff exits.
“We conducted interviews a month ago and as a result, we will release appointment letters for 57 nurses who were interviewed and selected and are expected to report on duty on Monday 29th,” Wavinya said.
The governor said her government had committed to replacing 326 healthcare workers among them 83 nurses to replace staff who had exited from service.
She said an advertisement for the slots will be published on the county government website. Wavinya assured the nursing fraternity that the county government will have recruited a total of 240 nurses by the end of September this year.
The governor also announced plans to pay the outstanding arrears of the 422 health workers who were promoted last year.
“We have committed to pay the arrears in a phased arrangement of 20 per cent commencing August 30 to December 31, 2024."
While calling off the strike, Saka said the union had reached a consensus with the employer on the majority of the issues raised by the nurses.
“We have had a good meeting with our employer and they have agreed to employ 241 nurses. The employer has also agreed that supplies will be quarterly and also to commit Facility Improvement Fund (FIF) into the supplies so that our patients can be attended to in the right way,” said Saka.
The deal also unlocked the pending re-designation of dozens of nurses who had acquired additional academic and professional qualifications and whose letters of promotion the SG said would be out by Monday next week.