Teachers in Kirinyaga have joined those calling on Governor Anne Waiguru to dialogue with striking health workers.
The strike is on day 37.
Speaking during the county education day at Kerugoya Boys High School, Knut Kirinyaga branch secretary general Javan Wachira said the strike in all of the county's 56 health facilities has hurt learning since most classrooms are half empty.
"When a parent falls ill and is taken to another county such as Nyeri, the pupils have to travel all the way to visit them. Also, if a teacher gets sick, he or she has to seek medication out of the county," he said.
Wachira urged the county to swiftly end the stalemate. He said the Teachers Service Commission should encourage dialogue with Knut whenever there is a problem.
The county Knut boss said the situation concerning the health sector in Kirinyaga has gotten out of hand and if not resolved, the union will mobilise teachers in solidarity with the striking medics. He said they will accompany the health workers' unions to Waiguru's office to seek dialogue.
Wachira's remarks were backed by his Kuppet counterpart Njogu Mbue, who said learning in most secondary schools had been disrupted because of the health workers strike.
"Most schools take super cover for students at a given hospital in the county, but we now have to seek services from other counties. Why can't the county dialogue with the medics since we have reports that it is the devolved unit that does not want to sit at a round table with its workers," he asked.
Kirinyaga Deputy Governor Peter Ndambiri said the county will negotiate with the striking health workers once they report back to work. He said the strike is illegal and was not protected by the law.
Ndambiri said the striking health workers industrial action was against a temporary court order stopping the strike. He urged the four unions – the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union, the Kenya National Union of Nurses, the Kenya Union of Clinical Officers and the laboratory and technicians union – to call off the strike to allow for dialogue.
Ndambiri said the county has employed workers on contract and normalcy had returned at the Kerugoya County Hospital's out-patient department. However, KMPDU Central region secretary general Gor Goody has urged residents to keep off the hospital since interns who should be supervised have been deployed.
