THE Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association (ZHDA) has urged its members to down tools starting next Monday after negotiations with the Health Services Board for an improvement in their working conditions ended in a deadlock on Saturday.
FELUNA NLEYA STAFF REPORTER
ZHDA yesterday accused their employer of negotiating in bad faith, hence the call for strike action.
The doctors had initially given government a 14-day ultimatum to address their grievances, but the deadline will expire today without any breakthrough in the negotiations.
Part of the statement read: “Doctors, through the Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association, have lost confidence that the government has any concrete, verifiable and practical plans to review our working conditions as highlighted in the ultimatum sent to them.
“According to section 65 subsection 2 and subsection 3 of the new Zimbabwean Constitution, doctors like any other Zimbabwean are allowed to participate in an industrial action.
The Zimbabwe Hospital Doctors’ Association has been directed by its members to call for a peaceful nationwide strike by doctors beginning Monday 27 October 2014 as a response to the laxity shown by government to address our concerns. This strike shall only be called off if our demands are met through a written formal communication by the employer.”
Health minister David Parirenyatwa could not be reached for comment as his mobile phone went unanswered last night.
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The doctors were demanding that their salaries be reviewed from the current $282 to a minimum of $1 200 per month excluding allowances. They were demanding free accommodation at government-owned flats.
The medical practitioners also said the government must reinstate the facility where doctors would import vehicles duty-free.
“We also resolved that government must pay at least $1,45 x hourly rate as on-call allowances,” the doctors said. “The government must urgently come up with a comprehensive response to the possibility of an Ebola outbreak that shall protect doctors, other health workers and their families from the deadly disease.”
Two weeks ago, junior doctors at Parirenyatwa Hospital went on a two-day strike in a bid to press the government to review housing allowances and improve their living and working conditions.
They, however, later called off the job action after being advised to follow proper channels to air their grievances.
