All leaders of healthcare workers unions and associations in Kaduna were present at the meeting.
The meeting was called to assess the response of the Kaduna state government to our earlier communication and notice of a 7- days warning strike to press home our demands.
We observed the following
1. Kaduna state government deducted 25% of the salaries from about 11000 of her Healthcare workers in the midst of COVID 19 ( April and May)
2. That the healthcare workers feel rejected and unappreciated by the Kaduna state government and are therefore disappointed, demoralized and demotivated
3. We also note that there are gross inaccuracies in the reportage of our challenges and the issues at hand by the state Government
4. The State government is trying to change the narrative to gain public sympathy against the HCWs of the state.
We therefore, wish to make the following clarifications
1. Kaduna State Government unlawfully deducted 25% of the salaries from her about 11,000 Healthcare Workers in the midst of CoViD 19.
2. Kaduna State Government paid between 150,000 to 450,000 naira as Occupational Safety incentives to some selected HCWs working as staff or volunteer in the IDCC and isolation centre or serving in some of the CoViD 19 pillars.
3. The promised 10% incentives for other HCWs though inadequate has not been paid.
4. Most HCWs that were infected with CoViD 19 are from health facilities outside the IDCC and isolation centres.
5. There are no adequate PPEs in the State hospitals as evidenced by
a. Patients buying their own gloves
b. HCWs getting their own personal facemask and eye goggles among other basic PPEs
6. We are ever guided by professional ethics and we have always considered our patients above all.
On the basis of the above we wish to state that the 7- days warning strike will proceed as we earlier notified from 12 noon today Friday 22nd MAY, 2020.
Thank you