Kiambu clinical officers on Friday staged a demonstration in Kiambu town, where they demanded for their grievances to be addressed.
The strike enters 74 days since the health workers took the industrial action.
The health workers later presented their petition, through the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers, to the Kiambu government offices and the county assembly.
In the petition, they argue that the current terms of service for contractual engagements are discriminatory and contrary to section 5 of Employment Act.
"We have clinical officers employed under dubious contracts earning as low as Sh 18,000 to Sh 50,000. This practice undermines the rights and morale of healthcare workers, leading to demotivated workforce," KUCO national chairman Peterson Wachira said.
He said that there are numerous cases of clinicians who have successfully completed their contracts, yet have not received their entitled gratuity.
"This failure to honour contractual agreements is unjust and financially burdensome for the affected officers," he said.
The clinicians said that they are often employed as hospital casuals under punitive payment terms, a practice devalues their professional contributions and fair labour standards.
The health workers said that there was a shortage of clinical officers which is contrary to staffing norms. This, they said, is insufficient to meet the healthcare needs of the population.
The union said they underrepresented in key positions within the Ministry of Health.
"There is no directorate, no subcounty medical officer of health and no representation in the department of human resource management advisory committee despite clinical officers performing 94 per cent of curative and specialist services," it said.
George Gibore, the KUCO national secretary general, said there is a need to redesignate clinical officers to the correct job groups.
The union also wants all clinical officers to be allowed to pursue master’s degree programmes to further their professional development.
Gibore urged the implementation of recommendations made by county assembly. He said that it was imperative to conclude and sign the collective bargaining agreement in collaboration with other counties.
The health workers, in their list of demands, also want health risk allowance for clinical officers be enhanced as per return-to-work agreement of 2021.
They, however, said that there should be an immediate appointment of a county director of clinical services in line with the approved career guidelines for clinical officers in 2024.
They have pledged to continue with the strike until their demands are met.
Kiambu health executive Elias Maina has, however, said the county has no alternative but to advertise for the positions if the strike persists since patients are suffering.
"The clinical officers are the first line of patient engagement into public hospitals and patients are suffering since there are no clinical officers to attend to patients," he said.
"I urge our clinical officers to return to work so that we can save lives as we engage each other on a positive outcome of their demands."
Kiambu hospitals have been hard hit by the strike leading to patients seeking services elsewhere with the county government losing revenue.