ABUJA (Labour Ministry’ Report)- The Federal Government’s negotiating team for the resolution of the lingering crisis in the Health sector has taken another firm step towards the restoration of industrial harmony in the sector. The team which comprises, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige (Sen); Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole; Minister of State for Health, Dr. O. Ehanire; Chairman of the National Income, Salaries and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule; and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Clement Iloh, met recently at the instance of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige.
According to the statement released to the press by the Ministry’s Press and Public Relations Unit recently, the meeting took far reaching decisions among which is the setting up of two committees to look into the issue of the circular on salary adjustments and the payment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure skipping arrears .
According to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige (Sen) who addressed the press at the end of the meeting, ‘’there was an overriding need for social dialogue as the only sure way to industrial peace. We have set up two committees ; one is to look into the issue of JOHESU demands for relativity Circular to enable them get reasonable wages while the other is to look into the issue of skipping because members of the Health Sector Unions, Nurses and Midwives Association, Laboratory Association want to skip a particular grade level”.
He revealed that the Nigerian Medical Association also made a joint position on skipping, hence the need to harmonize the positions in the spirit of collective bargaining, bearing in mind the extant economic down turn in the country. Similarly, the Minister of Health, Professor Adewole emphasized the essence of peace in the all-important health sector, saying that “this is the beginning of lasting peace. We wish to take every complaint on board. We will look at them critically in a way that will remove any form of interruption in the national healthcare delivery.”
