Health workers begin strike •JOHESU directs members to stay at home

Following the failure of the Federal Government and the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) to resolve the lingering differences on Tuesday,  health workers in all Federal Tertiary Health Institutions will commence strike today over unresolved disputes.

In a communique issued on Wednesday, in Abuja, JOHESU had directed all its members in Federal Tertiary Health Institutions to proceed on a seven-day warning strike.

“Having consulted widely with members nationwide and having shown consistent understanding since February 2015, the leadership of JOHESU, hereby, directs that all members in Federal Tertiary Health Institutions should proceed on a seven-day warning strike from 12:01 a.m. of Wednesday  June 22, 2016,” the communique signed by the JOHESU chairman and national president of Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWUN), Comrade Biobelemoye Joy Josiah and eight others said.

However, the unions appealed to Nigerians to bear with the workers and impress it on the Federal Government to meet their demands.

The communique read: “We, hereby, appeal to the general public to please bear with us and impress it on the Federal Government to meet the demands of the unions to prevent the warning strike from becoming a full-blown indefinite strike.”

JOHESU said it observed lack of seriousness on the part of the Federal Government during the meeting, adding that the government representative feigned ignorance of all that had been done earlier to resolve the issues in contention.