By Our Reporter
The Federal Government said it has reached a truce with aggrieved health workers of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) and Assembly of Healthcare Professionals.
The Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, said this while addressing newsmen at the end of a five-hour meeting with the leadership of JOHESU on Tuesday in Abuja.
The JOHESU President, Mr Josiah Biobelemonye, said “strike is not the way to go”, and expressed optimism that all issues raised by the unions would be positively attended to.
JOHESU had on September 3, issued a 15-day ultimatum to the federal government to meet their demands or face an indefinite strike.
Ngige said that an understanding was reached by both parties.
He said the meeting was fruitful and that the Memorandum of Understanding would be signed next week.
He said they discussed in a fraternal way and reached an understanding on all the issues in dispute.
According to him, this includes the enhancement of hazard allowance, review of retirement age from 60 to 65 years, the arrears of the consequential adjustment of the national minimum wage.
He added that understanding was reached on the upward adjustment of Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS) as done with Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS).
The minister said there was no problem with the old issues, while the meeting agreed that the new issues should return to their employer, the Federal Ministry of Health, for discussions.
On the hazard allowance, Ngige noted that the federal government had held four meetings earlier with JOSEHU and Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) alongside their affiliates, but at a point, there were areas of departure.
He said that NMA and a union hitherto thought to be part of JOHESU, demanded for the compartmentalisation of the discussions on the hazard allowance, which the government granted.
“Based on previous discussion, we delivered to them (JOHESU) the financial implication of what is due to them and they promised to get back to their members and report back to us.
”On the other hand, government is meeting with NMA next week for their separate discussion on hazard allowance. Already the federal government has budgeted the sum of N37.5 billion for this.