An agreement has been reached between the Kenyan health workers union and Kenyan authorities. This level ground between the two parties will bring to an end the strike that commenced on March 15.
Kenyan public hospital doctors on Wednesday signed a return to work agreement with the government meant to end a strike that started in mid-March, according to union and government officials.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU), which stands for more than 7,000 members, went on strike on March 15 to demand payment of their salary arrears and the immediate hiring of trainee doctors, among other grievances.
« We have signed a return to work formula and the union has called off the strike, » Susan Nakhumicha, the minister of health reiterated. The doctors’ arrears arose from a 2017 collective bargaining agreement (CBA), the union said. Doctors were also demanding the provision of adequate medical insurance coverage for themselves and their dependents.
The government had said it cannot afford to hire the trainee doctors due to financial pressure on the public purse. A strike in 2017 lasted three months, and some doctors in individual hospitals downed their tools at various times during the COVID-19 pandemic to protest lack of personal protective equipment and other grievances.
The end of the strike will provide relief to those seeking services, especially following heavy rains and flooding that has killed 257 people since March, and displaced over 293,600 people across the east Africa nation.
