Doctors and nurses on
Saturday
issued a
21-day strike notice over poor remuneration.
Through their unions - Kenya Medical Practitioners and the Dentist Union and the National Union of Nurses - they said the Salaries and Remuneration Commission deceived them with the job evaluation report released on
Friday.
Speaking separately to reporters on
Saturday, KMPDU secretary general Ouma Olunga said the report by the commission had not only delayed their separate pay deals but also failed to indicate what they should earn.
Olunga said doctors demanded a 300 per cent pay increase.
Kenya Union of Nurses Secretary General Seth Panyako said the nurses demanded a salary increment of between 25 to 40 per cent and an allowance increase of 14 to 25 per cent.
SRC on
Friday
released a new job structure for over 600,000 public servants seeking to bridge the gap between the highest and lowest pay earners.
Olunga said, “SRC has been lying to us for 17 months using the job evaluation thing to delay our CBA and pay increase.
Yesterday, they released a report full of nonsense with no figures of what exactly a doctor should earn”.
Olunga maintained doctor were tired of waiting.
“We are issuing a 21-day strike notice which expires on
December 5. If we do not get the agreed 300 per cent pay increase you can all guess what the consequences will be,” he said.
According to Olunga, in the pay increase, the highest paid doctor will earn Sh946,000 while the lowest paid will take home Sh342,770.
Currently, the lowest paid doctor earns a basic salary of Sh40,000
which is demeaning and too little for their hard work, he said.
Panyako said it was a shame that SRC, National and County governments had reneged on their promise of a CBA.
Panyako
accused SRC chairman Sarah Serem of duplicating jobs in the
newly released job groups from previous documents.
We categorically say that come
December 5, services in all public hospitals will be paralyzed should the government fail to heed to our demands. The salaries commission has misled the public,”
Panyako said.