KNH workers say they will strike over unpaid allowances
Kenyatta National Hospital where workers have threatened to down their tools in the first week of August due to what they say is non-payment of their health service allowances. PHOTO | FRANCIS NDERITU | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- They have written to the KNH chief executive officer informing the administration of their impending industrial action.
- The letter was in response to a botched meeting slated for July 10.
- Union’s secretary general said the hospital had demanded afresh for items in dispute despite having knowledge of the same for a while now.
Workers at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) have threatened to down their tools in the first week of August due to what they say is non-payment of their health service allowances.
Through their umbrella body, Kenya Union of Domestic, Hotels, Educational Institutions, Hospitals and Allied Workers (Kudheiha), they have written to the KNH chief executive officer informing the administration of their impending industrial action.
The letter was in response to a botched meeting slated for July 10, with workers accusing the management of not providing an alternative date to sort out the stalemate.
The union’s secretary general Albert Njeru said the hospital’s management had demanded afresh for items in dispute despite having knowledge of the same for a while now.
It is under the current circumstance that they have decided to lift the suspended strike notice. The workers now plan to start their work stoppage on August 6.
“We issued the strike notice on May 19, 2017 on the non-payment but it was suspended after a conciliator was appointed by the chief industrial relations officer, Ministry of Labour to conciliate the matter,” said Mr Njeru.
He said it was regrettable the union suspended its strike to pave way for the process and to allow the management to effect pay for members who had not received their revised house allowances yet to date, the allowances have not been harmonised.
