Labour Crisis: Zamfara health workers threaten to shut hospitals over unpaid salaries

*The union stated that they have accosted the appropriate government agencies over the issue but nothing has been done.

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

The Joint Health Sector Unions at the Yariman Bakura Specialist Hospital, Gusau Chapter, have staged a peaceful protest in the hospital over non-payment of their salaries.

The healthcare unions have issued a week’s ultimatum to the Zamfara State Government to pay their members’ salaries arrears and resolve the half-salaries paid to some of them.

And if the state government fails to honour their demand in this regard, the health personnel noted they would shut the hospital and withdraw their services, Channels TV report said.

The union stated that they had met with the appropriate government agencies over the issue, but disclosed that nothing was done despite several assurances given them.

The Chairman of the joint  unions, who pleaded not to mention his name for fear of being attacked, said the failure of the relevant authorities to act on their demands within the 24-hour ultimatum earlier issued compelled them to stage the peaceful protest to pass the message across.

The Union leader declared: “We gave an ultimatum of 24 hours for this earlier but after this, we will give an ultimatum of one week, if nothing happens, we will close the hospital completely.”

The protesting health workers also expressed dismay that they were expecting to receive the increments in their salaries as the state government earlier promised to commence the implementation of the N30,000 National Minimum Wage November 2022.

The Chairman, however, said: “We were brainwashed that in the month of November, we will expect to have what to call minimum wage and that minimum wage, we expect to have salary increment but as of November ending when our salaries came, we realised that it was even cut, not normal wage we used to collect; even the increment was not there.

“As I am talking here, most of our staff you see here did not collect November and December salaries; we still have those that collect half of November and December salaries, some got November salaries but no December salary.”

It is further said that the Zamfara State Government had announced it would start the implementation of the N30,000 Minimum Wage November 2022, but there are complaints from some quarters that the state government yet owes some workers November and December 2022 salaries.