We 'll not call off strike until our demands are met: NMA

By The Rainbow
Click for Full Image Size
We ‘ll not call off strike until our demands are met: NMA

The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) has said that doctors wil not call off their ongoing strike unless the Federal Government paid six out of the 12 months arrears of allowances owed them.

The president of the NMA, Dr. Kayode Obembe, made the position of the association known on Monday while meeting with the House of Representatives Committee on Health.

He said the association was expecting a circular from the National Salaries and Wages Income Commission on the issue of entry steps for House Officers.

Obembe, who was represented by Dr. Titus Ibekwe, NMA's First Vice-President, said the association was expecting a circular from the NSWIC on the issue of entry steps for House Officers.

The president agreed at a meeting with government that a body for collective bargaining be set up, adding that the issue of relativity and skipping had not been addressed.

He stated further that he would discuss with members of the association on the position of government.

The meeting between the lawmakers and the NMA however was deadlocked as the doctors insisted that their demands must be met.

Speaking at the meeting, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, appealed to the NMA to suspend its two-week-old strike.

Chairman of the House committee on Health, Ndudi Elumelu, who delivered Tambuwal's message, made the call at the resumed meeting of the committee with the stakeholders in the health sector.

Elumelu said Tambuwal was discussing with President Goodluck Jonathan on how to end the lingering strike and urged the doctors to suspend the strike to save Nigerians who were in dire need of their services.