WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE NURSES’ STRIKE IN KENYA
Summary of demands
The Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun) has made the following demands in the CBA.
- Call for harmonization of salaries that are currently have huge disparities
- An increase in salary for the lowest paid nurses from Ksh. 16,000 to 35,000.
- The Council of Governors (CoG) has been required to set aside Ksh. 40.3 billion in order to end the health strike.
This is the second day of a strike called for by the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun). Over 45,000 members of the Union are either on a go-slow or are not setting foot at the hospitals. The strike started on Monday 5th June, 2017.
The nurses have claimed that the collective bargaining agreement they signed with the government has been bleached. The members have vowed never to return to work until their demands are met.
The CBA provided nurses with Ksh. 12,000 in allowances starting from January and this was expected to increase to Ksh. 20,000 by July, 2017.
The Nurses Union officials reported that the government had failed to register the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with the courts for immediate implementation.
The media houses have reported that Samburu County Referral Hospital was the worst hit by the industrial action. The patients from the hospital were referred to private hospitals such as Wamba Mission Hospital and Mediheal Hospital in Nakuru.
Political Angle to the Strike
On 2nd of June, the Council of Governors reported that the process of the CBA has been concluded just awaiting signing after they get a feedback from the Salaries and Remuneration Commission.
On receiving the communication, the Commission demanded to get proof of the availability of resources before going ahead with the CBA. This made the CoG to make a U-turn on their earlier position.
It seems that this is the point where the Council of Governors realized that the amount they were planning to commit was too high than the previous agreed figures.
Therefore, Nanok (the Chair of CoG) and James Ongwae (the Chair of Health Committee at CoG) said that the Ksh. 40 billion demanded by the nurses’ union was too unrealistic compared to Ksh. 3.4 billion agreed on earlier. The chair subsequently requested for more time to relook into the entire matter of finances.
The National Super Alliance (NASA) coalition has associated the Nurses’ strike with Jubilee incompetence.
Disjointed Efforts
It’s unfortunate that John Bii has disowned the ongoing nurse’s strike. He has been a lone ranger in his quest to sabotage the ongoing nurses’ strike. He declared the strike illegal and unprotected. He was expected on 4th Feb, 2017 from the Union leadership. He was later reinstated by the courts.
Meanwhile, one death has been reported associated with the ongoing Nurses’ strike. It’s going to be worse with time.
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