The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has given the government a 60-day strike notice because it had not yet signed Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) with healthcare employees.
Seth Panyako, the secretary general of the KNUN, claimed that President William Ruto’s administration has neglected health professionals during a press conference in Nairobi.
“We have given the government enough time, the Ministry of Health should facilitate CBA signing which was started in 2017 to be concluded in 60 days,” Panyako stated.
He explained that health workers unions had written several letters to the government about the matter but the Ministry of Health was not acting while claiming that it is still transitioning to the new Kenya Kwanza government.
KUCO secretary general George Gibore lamented that county governments were frustrating unions efforts in finalizing drafting of CBAs and urged President William Ruto to intervene in the matter.
“Health workers have not enjoyed a pay rise for the last 7 years. A health worker was poorer today than they were 7 years ago due to the current inflation, a fact that has seen Kenya lose many highly specialized and experienced health workers to other countries,” read part of the unions joint statement.
Panyako asked the government to hire more healthcare professionals in the country at the same time.
The union representatives also argued that certain counties were subjecting health workers to poor working environments as a result of the absence of CBAs. Additionally, they complained that their low salaries were making it difficult for them to carry out their daily activities due to the current high cost of living.
“While CBAs for KUCO and KNUN remained unconcluded, the other unions have not been able to start off the process and have been denied recognition agreements. It is now clear there are delay measures to delay the process and deny health workers their right to fair remuneration, reasonable working environment and collective bargaining,” read part of the statement by the unions.
They at the same time opposed Finance Bill 2023, arguing that the bill proposes additional 3 percent housing tax which was a burden to the workers.
