After two months of embarking on an industrial action to drive home their grievance against the Federal Government, members of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) have resolved to call off their strike and return to work.
The doctors, following an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting, resolved to go back to work, beginning from 8am on Wednesday, October 6, 2021.
After a debate over how to proceed with the dispute with the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, the doctors resorted to casting a vote. In the vote cast, 28 supported the continuation while 56 of the NEC members voted in favour of suspending the strike, just as five other members were absent.
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The doctors’ strike had almost crippled the country’s health sector.
WHAT THIS MEANS:
- The leadership of NARD has been mandated to address the media on Monday, on the decision to suspend the strike and new timelines for further engagement with the Federal Government.
- Nigerians, upon the resumption of work by the doctors, will now have access to full healthcare services which have been denied them, following the industrial action.
- The suspension of the strike, in the meantime, followed intense pressure from the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), and other medical bodies.
Recall that the doctors had gone on strike as part of efforts to press home their demand for the implementation of the Memorandum of Agreement they reached with the Federal Government and to protest the alleged non-payment of arrears of salaries and allowances to some of their members.
The doctors also sought the immediate release of their residency training fund and for the placement of their members in the appropriate salary structure.
The Federal Government, however, took the matter to the National Industrial Court for resolution after series of negotiations failed to resolve the dispute.
