Medical and Dental Consultants’ Association of Nigeria, Anambra State chapter of the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu Teaching Hospital chapter has threatened to go on strike again.
The doctors had suspended their strike that lasted for two months in July.
On Wednesday, the medical practitioners issued a seven-day ultimatum to Anambra State Government to commence payment of enhanced salaries to its members or face industrial action.
The Chairman of the association, Dr Chukwudi Okani, at a press conference in Awka, said members of the association would commence the indefinite strike should the government fail to heed to the call.
He noted that salaries received by medical consultants in the institution were lower when compared to salaries received by House officers in Federal Medical Centres across the South-East zone.
He said, “I have been a consultant for more than six years now but you cannot believe that my salary here is not up to what a house officer receives in any of the FMC in the South-East zone.
“Our ultimatum was due to the inability of the state to implement the agreement it reached with us after the suspension of our July 8, 2019 strike.
“After the suspension of our July strike, we agreed with the Anambra State Government that salaries paid to consultants in the state should be equal to that received by other consultants in teaching hospitals.
“We had other issues that we presented to the government which made the state government inaugurate a committee that was given one month to investigate and submit its findings and recommendations to the government’’.
Okani regretted that since the suspension of the strike, the committee had not submitted its report.
The doctors enjoined Obiano to intervene on the matter to avert possible collapse of services at the hospital.
THE PUNCH
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