UCH Patients Groan As Health Workers’ Warning Strike Persists

Following the seven-day warning strike embarked upon by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU), patients at the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, have appealed to the federal government to negotiate with the striking health workers to end the industrial action.

The patients made the appeal while speaking with newsmen at the hospital in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

The duo of Mr Matthew Ademola and Madam Aina Balogun said they could not receive medical attention at the Diagnosis Centres of the facility as medical laboratory workers were not on the ground to attend to them.

LEADERSHIP also observed that the entrance gate to some areas within the hospital were shut.
UCH chapter Chairman of JOHESU, Mr Oladayo Olabampe said the strike was only observed in federal health institutions.

He pointed out that their demands include immediate upward review of CONHESS salary as applicable to CONMESS in 2014; others are tax waiver on allowance, upward review of retirement age of health workers to 65 years and 70 years for consultants, among others.

Olabampe, who is also the chairman of Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professionals in Oyo State noted that their demands were overdue, noting that the union would embark on indefinite strike if government failed to respond to their demands.

The 7-day warning strike commenced on Saturday October 26, 2024.