Nurses in Uasin Gishu county have gone on strike accusing Governor Jonathan Bii’s administration of refusing to engage their union for a CBA agreement.
The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) Secretary General Seth Panyako issued the strike notice on December 16 to the county government and the Ministry of Health.
Besides the delayed CBA negotiations, the nurses are also protesting delayed promotions and nine other grievances.
KNUN branch secretary Klein Kimutai said they include the county government's failure to re-designate specialised nurses.
They are also accusing the county administration of failing to implement the 2024 SRC salary structure and failing to convert UHC nurses to permanent and pensionable terms.
Kimutai said the county government failed to implement the National Registered CBA for seconded nurses and also failed to implement the 17 tier grading structure for the nurses leading to stalled carrier progression among them.
“The county has also been delaying remittance of statutory deductions thus exposing the workers to loses including bank penalties,” Kimutai said.
Uasin Gishu county has more than 138 health facilities where services have been affected by the nurses' strike.
The county has more than 700 nurses, including 400 who are on permanent and pensionable terms.
Their union alleged that money meant for their promotion was diverted by county officials, causing them to stall in the same job groups for over a decade.
Efforts to get a comment on the allegations from Governor Bii and the County Executive for Health, Abraham Serem, were unfruitful as they were not picking calls.
The nurses marched in the streets of Eldoret City and staged a sit-in at the county headquarters seeking audience with Governor Bii.
Kimutai said the county government was yet to respond to their grievances and had also snubbed mediation talks initiated by the Ministry of Labour.
“We are therefore informing the governor that we will remain on strike until our grievances are heard and solutions implemented,” Kimutai said.
