Doctors at the Lagos university Hospital are reportedly discharging patients in preparation to join their colleagues in the employment of Lagos State who were fired en masse last week by that government for going on strike.
Doctors at the Lagos university Hospital are reportedly discharging patients in preparation to join their colleagues in the employment of Lagos State who were fired en masse last week by that government for going on strike.
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In a statement today, the state branch of the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA), recalled that at its emergency general meeting on April 25, it supported the strike action embarked upon by the Medical Guild and warned that if any doctor was victimised through sack or otherwise on account of the strike action, it will also join the strike action.
Reviewing the genesis of the crisis, NMA Lagos State lamented that the State Government had failed to honour the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale (CONMESS), which was negotiated with the federal government by doctors to serve as a minimum universal scale of remuneration for all doctors in the country regardless of location or employer, in order to curb internal brain drain.
“For the past one year, the Medical Guild has been writing, meeting and pleading with government to correct the shortfall in implementation of CONMESS,” it said in the statement. “The government however only chose to shift and default on its promises.”
It urged the state government to withdraw the sack letters and all queries issued to its members immediately, pointing out that those actions are totally in breach of labour laws since the warning strike was legitimate and a resumption of the suspended action of 2010/2011.
“Government should instead hasten to ensure implementation of the agreement and demonstrate its good will by promptly paying the appropriate salaries,” NMA Lagos State said.
Governor Babatunde Fashola fired 788 doctors in one day last week, several days after the doctors embarked on an indefinite strike to press for better conditions of service. The situation has led to tremendous hardship for people throughout the state seeking medical service.
Full Statement of the NMA, Lagos State Branch:
VIOLATION OF WORKERS’ RIGHTS IN LAGOS STATE
We wish to complain about the illegal mass sacking of doctors by the Lagos State Government on Monday 7th May 2012, following their participation in a warning strike between 11th and 13th April 2012 under the aegis of the Medical Guild.
In September 2009, following several years of negotiations between the Nigerian Medical Association and the Federal Government, the Consolidated Medical Salary Scale circular SWC/S/04/S.410/220 was released by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission. The main principle of CONMESS is to serve as a minimum universal scale of remuneration for all doctors in Nigeria regardless of location or employer, in order to curb internal brain drain. CONMESS is also intended to correct the wage disparity that has seen doctors’ salaries being progressively reduced relative to other professionals over the years following repeated wage reviews.
The Medical Guild had been agitating for implementation of CONMESS by the Lagos State Government since 2009 through several letters and representations to government. This culminated in the strike actions of August to November 2010, and February to March 2011. The Lagos State government dragged the Medical Guild to the National Industrial Court in August 2010 challenging the legality of our strike action. The President of the court, Justice Adejumo, however ruled that the Medical Guild did not err as it had given the government sufficient notice through several letters and meetings with government.
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In November 2011, the Lagos State Government agreed to pay CONMESS as approved in the Federal Government Circular stated above and committed itself to same via a signed document. This document specifically indicated government’s acceptance to pay and also not to place Lagos State doctors at any disadvantage whatsoever relative to their colleagues anywhere else in the country. The government later rescinded on this agreement which led to the second strike of February to April of 2011. In late March 2011, an agreement was finally signed between the Lagos State Government and the Medical Guild to implement CONMESS in full. This agreement which was signed by His Excellency the Governor of Lagos State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, also included the cost of implementing CONMESS in full. The Medical Guild suspended its strike action in good faith, despite the earlier reneging of the Lagos State government, in order to allow government implement the agreement.
The Lagos State Government however failed to honour the agreement and however chose to implement only certain aspects of CONMESS. For the past one year, the Medical Guild has been writing, meeting and pleading with government to correct the shortfall in implementation of CONMESS. The government however only chose to shift and default on its promises.
The outstanding issues on CONMESS implementation include the following:
1. Demotion of all doctors to lower steps on each grade level, thus leading to loss of seniority and income. According to the civil service rules and according to the agreements made with government on CONMESS, all doctors are supposed to be laterally converted from the previous salary grade level and step to the corresponding salary grade level and step on the CONMESS scale. The agreement on CONMESS signed by the Governor in March 2011 which led to our suspension of the strike included the cost implication of implementing CONMESS in full with lateral conversion of all doctors from the old (CONTISS) scale to the new CONMESS scale, level for level, step for step, without any form of demotion in step. Annex II of the CONMESS circular (see the attached) is very clear on conversion from CONTISS (the previous salary scale) to CONMESS. All over the federation, migration to the CONMESS scale is level for level and step for step. Even the attempt to demote officers by steps has been fraught with serious errors and caused total distortion in hierarchy, such that senior doctors now find themselves below their juniors. The Medical Guild had written severally to government to correct these anomalies yet nothing was done about it.
2. Demotion of GL 15 specialists (Consultants) from step 4 and above to step 1. Entry level for specialists is GL 15 step 4 according to the civil service rules. However, specialists in Lagos State who were employed on GL 15 step 4 were demoted to step 1, and newly employed specialists are being placed GL 15 step 1. This is contrary to what obtains in the CONMESS circular and the extant civil service rules.
3. Employment of new consultants on GL 15 step 1: Points of entry for various cadres into the different salary scales are determined by the National Salaries and Wages Commission, which also determines salaries for holders of political office. The entry point for consultants has been stipulated as Grade Level 15, step 4. The Guild regards this as sacrosanct. Dropping this cadre to step 1 will amount to setting back the profession three years. This is not acceptable to us.
4. Pegging of GL 12 doctors in LASUTH on lower steps compared with their counterparts in the Health Service Commission (HSC) who are placed on higher steps. Normally, entry level of Medical Officers and Registrars is GL 12 step 2. Entry level for LASUTH registrars was fixed at step 1 and all registrars were pegged at steps 1 and 2. However, Medical Officers in HSC were appropriately placed on step 2 as entry level and higher according to the number of years in service. Therefore, GL 12 doctors in LASUTH have been at a disadvantage for the past one year.
5. Teaching allowance for House Officers(GL 10) and Medical Officers/Junior Registrars (GL 12): the cost implication for the above was calculated in detail and approved for payment by His Excellency, the Governor of Lagos State in March 2011 as part of the agreement with which we suspended our strike. We are therefore surprised that cost implications are still being recalculated 13 months after implementation should have started. This allowance is being paid by other state governments as contained in the CONMESS circular. Attached are payslips from another institution in Lagos and the CONMESS circular (annex VII) to back this.
6. Excessive tax paid by doctors: part of the agreement with government for suspending our strike last year, was that the excessive taxation will be reviewed downwards. Contrary to this agreement, from October 2011 the tax paid by doctors was increased. Initially we attributed it to the bonus added to our salaries between October and December 2011. However, following return to our normal salaries in January 2012, the amount of tax we have been paying has remained at the inflated level. Despite our complaints about this anomaly no rectification has been made.
The association was forced to seek other available and legal means to ensure that government implements CONMESS in full. Bearing in mind the prolonged suffering an indefinite strike action would cause Lagosians, the association opted for a 3-day warning strike between 11th and 13th April 2012. This was intended to put pressure on government to do the needful and to alert the public on the unresolved issues.
However, instead of government initiating moves to resolving the outstanding issues in the interest of industrial harmony and welfare of Lagosians, it embarked on a vendetta to punish the doctors by issuing queries and threatening to sack doctors for participating in the warning strike.
On receipt of the queries on 16th April 2012, we promptly informed all our members not to reply them since our strike was a labour issue and not an administrative matter. The association replied the queries on behalf of our members stating clearly to government that the strike was legitimate as it was a resumption of our suspended strike action of March 2011. Another query was issued by government on 18th April 2012 threatening to discipline our members for not replying the first query. Still our members did not reply the second query. Furthermore, on Monday 23rd April 2012, the government invited all doctors to appear before Personnel Management Board meetings (disciplinary panel) at the Health Service Commission on Lagos Island and in LASUTH, Ikeja on Tuesday 24th April 2012 and Thursday 26th April 2012.
The association immediately instructed all the invited doctors not to appear before any of the panels. We however mobilised all our members to appear together at the Health Service Commission on Lagos Island on Tuesday 24th April 2012 at 8 a.m., in solidarity with our members that are being victimised on account of the 3-day warning strike.
On Tuesday 24th April 2012, on getting to the venue of the disciplinary panel at the HSC, we were turned back from the venue by a heavy detachment of armed mobile policemen and armoured vehicles. We were also reliably informed that LASUTH had been flooded with policemen and armoured vehicles. We had to relocate to the car park of the General Hospital Lagos across the road to hold our general meeting. While peacefully conducting our meeting, armed security personnel were moving in and out of our meeting with loaded firearms. At a point, they even disrupted our meeting by approaching our chairman, Dr. O.P. Odusote, while he was addressing the crowd, and invited him for questioning at their office in Lion Building in Lagos. While at the meeting, we got messages that government had finalised arrangements to begin the systematic sack of doctors. At this point our members became agitated and resolved to immediately resume our suspended strike action until CONMESS is fully implemented and government withdraws all queries, disciplinary panels, threats of sack and security personnel from the hospitals. The indefinite strike commenced on Tuesday 24th April 2012 and has been on till date.
The Nigerian Medical Association, Lagos State Branch, at its emergency general meeting on 25th April 2012 supported the strike action embarked upon by the Medical Guild and warned that if any doctor is victimised through sack or otherwise on account of the strike action, the NMA Lagos will also join the strike action.
On Monday 7th May 2012, the Lagos State Government issued letters of dismissal to all members of the Medical Guild for participating in the 3-day warning strike. The letter was dated 4th May 2012.
We urge the government to immediately withdraw the sack letters and all queries issued to our members as it is totally in breach of labour laws since the warning strike was legitimate and a resumption of the suspended action of 2010/2011. Government should instead hasten to ensure implementation of the agreement and demonstrate its good will by promptly paying the appropriate salaries.
Dr. Olumuyiwa Odusote Dr. Idris Durojaiye
Chairman Secretary
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