Kisumu county health workers have threatened to go on strike should the county government fail to address their grievances.
The health workers in a joint statement led by Kenya Union of Clinical officers(KUCO), Kenya National Union of nurses(KNUN), Kenya National Union of Medical Laboratory officers(KNUMLO) have sent a protest letter to the county secretary through the chief officer of health.
The officers accused the county government county of continued neglect during Covid-19.
Led by KUCO secretary Craus Odhiambo, they noted that the county has illegally withheld salaries of a section of health care workers and also delayed their salary payment.
Odhiambo noted that some two top unions officials are yet to receive their salaries from December last year.
He said some of the 400 health workers who were struck off from payrol are also yet to receive their January and February salaries despite an order that directed they be reinstated.
"We are asking the county government to pay salaries of our members failure to which they should not blame the union for taking any action," he added.
County chief of staff John Oywa when contacted said his office is yet to receive the letter and will respond once it does.
The health workers also noted that there are no drugs within the health facilities forcing them to tell patients to go buy drugs from outside.
Odhiambo noted that they are in a new financial year yet drugs requested/ordered in the last financial year are yet to be delivered.
"Drugs have not been supplied since April last year and we don't know what to do as health workers when patients need drugs. Even the basics like panadol are not there."
The medic also accused the county government of not remitting their deductions, particularly the non-statutory deductions such as bank loans, insurance premiums, union dues.
Since April, he said that they have not been supplied with PPEs in the county despite the rising numbers of Covid-19 in the lakeside city.
"We therefore give the county a period of two weeks to ensure that they distribute PPEs to all the public hospitals within the county failure to which we will take actions, “he said.