Healthcare workers in different cadres have issued a 7-day strike notice to push for the recognition of all their unregistered Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).
In a statement, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) chairperson Peterson Wachira said health workers will have an outstanding nationwide strike starting at midnight on July 13.
He said the unions had given counties at the Ministry of Health 60 days from May 15 so that they can open dialogue and agree on the matters of the Collective Bargaining Agreement including hiring health workers on contracts
Speaking in Nakuru during his fact-finding tour of county hospitals, Wachira said there has been no engagement from the government side and the unions’. He added that letters have not been responded to.
“I want to tell Kenyans that the medics through their unions and associations had the good will. We gave the long notice so that we could dialogue and not interrupt services but it is unfortunate that the government seems not to care about its citizens,” he said.
Wachira who is also the chairman of the Health Unions Caucus said the government does not care whether the public gets services on not
He observed that the government had decided that medics can go on strike judging by its silence over the pending industrial action.
He told the government at the county and the national level that health workers know how to strike and no services will be offered in any health facility across the country.
“Come July 13th at midnight, all health care workers in all facilities across the country will stay away unless a magic happens and within the seven days we complete the CBAs that we have not registered,” he said.
Wachira said Kenyans will not be able to access services simply because the government has decided to go on strike.
