The National Association of Resident Doctors has called off its nationwide strike.
According to the association’s President, Dr Godiya Ishaya, the strike that began on August 2 has been stopped with effect from 8 a.m. on Wednesday.
Ishaya revealed this during an interview, saying, “We are suspending the strike for six weeks to give room for movement in some of the items we noticed a stalemate. There was a stalemate in the enrollment of our members into the IPPIS and payment of their areas.
“The government was invoking the trade dispute article 41, that is the ‘no work, no pay.’ And since they have been enrolled into IPPIS, it means there was not going to be any salary into their accounts. Without them being paid, they won’t get their areas; that was a stalemate we felt we should give a window to see if the government can start paying them salaries and push their areas into their accounts.
“On the issue of ‘no work, no pay,’ we have not agreed to forfeit our salaries. The strike was unnecessarily prolonged because of the government’s response to the strike. Instead of sitting on the table, the government decided to go to court and that kept prolonging negotiation.”
Ishaya also stated that the Association’s National Executive Council would meet in six weeks to consider the next course of action.
