THERE was a twist on Tuesday in the face-off between the Lagos State
Government and medical doctors in its service as the government, barely
24 hours after sacking 788 striking doctors, said it was ready for
dialogue and negotiation.
The state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, made this
disclosure on Tuesday while speaking on the crisis rocking the health
sector in the state.
“We are still ready to dialogue with the doctors and even negotiate.
We have over time bent and bent to accommodate their demands. Sacking
was not a palatable decision for us to take,” Idris told journalists at
the Alausa secretariat.
The commissioner however said the 373 doctors the state employed to replace their sacked colleagues had resumed work on Tuesday.
But Lagos appeared not to be weary as the state Commissioner for
Information, Mr. Aderemi Ibirogba, insisted on Tuesday that the
government reserved the right to sack the doctors.
The commissioners spoke even as the sacked doctors’ lawyer, Bamidele
Aturu, in a statement on Tuesday reminded the public that the doctors’
suit against the Lagos State Government would come up before the
National Industrial Court on Wednesday (today).
The suit in which the doctors had pre-empted their mass sack by the government was filed on April 24, 2012.
Also, the Chairman of the Medical Guild in the state and leader of
the doctors, Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote, said the government was not being
sincere in its so-called readiness for dialogue over the matter.
“What kind of dialogue and negotiation do they want after they have employed replacements for our members,” Odusote told The PUNCH in an exclusive interview on Tuesday.
Idris said, “The minister for health has called and other
stakeholders but I say our doors are still open for dialogue. But the
state government reserves the right to sack the doctors and individuals
also have the right to go on strike.
“The new doctors we recruited would have resumed today. Together with
the new doctors that we have, Lagos presently has over 1,000 doctors in
its employ and many doctors from all over Nigeria and the world have
signified interest to work with us since this dispute and recruitment
process began.
“But we tried not to employ because we were still waiting for them to
see reasons with us. We wanted to prevent it but the doctors were
adamant.”
Idris said Governor Babatunde Fashola in a meeting with the doctors
last week Wednesday had appealed to the doctors who turned deaf ears to
his plea.
According to him, the State House of Assembly had also called a
meeting with the doctors on Saturday to urge them to resume work but the
doctors had shunned all efforts of the state government and dared them
to go ahead with any action they deemed fit.
Ibirogba said the sacking of the doctors was aimed at saving lives.
He said, “For once we wanted to call their bluff. They are not more
professional than lawyers, engineers. We cannot continue to over-pamper
doctors just because we do not want strike. The question is, ‘Do we have
a right to sack them?’ And I say, ‘We do if it is to save lives.’
“They must answer their queries, face the board. Our doors are still
open to dialogue. The doctors did not follow labour laws as they should
have given their employers 15 days notification before embarking on the
warning strike in the midst of negotiations.”
The health commissioner said the government would not be deterred by
the threats of the Nigerian Medical Association which vowed to blacklist
the newly employed doctors. He accused the NMA of inciting doctors
against the state.
He said, “NMA should stop spreading false information. They do not
grant medical license. It is the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria
that has a right to do that.
“They want to stampede medical services in Lagos …. Where were they when these doctors were going on incessant strikes?
Idris, however, assured Lagos residents that the state government had
enough qualified doctors to attend to patients in all its hospitals.
On the doctor’s grievances which include the non-implementation of
the Consolidated Medical Salary Medical Salary Scale and non payment of
teaching allowances to house officers and some disparities in the wage
scale, Idris said,” We agreed to pay teaching allowance but only to
those that teach.We cannot pay teaching allowance to grade 12 officers
and house officers who do not teach.
“We agreed that there were disparities in their wages and we have
corrected that.It was to reflect in their April salaries but they went
on strike.”-PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment