Following a long Emergency Delegates Meeting [EDM] attended by delegates from every state, the Federal Capital Territory and Affiliate groups, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) today resolved that all Federal Health workers and the Resident Doctors who had embarked on a sympathy strike with their sacked Lagos colleagues should return to work on Monday June 4, 2012.
Following a long Emergency Delegates Meeting [EDM] attended by delegates from every state, the Federal Capital Territory and Affiliate groups, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) today resolved that all Federal Health workers and the Resident Doctors who had embarked on a sympathy strike with their sacked Lagos colleagues should return to work on Monday June 4, 2012.
But Resident Doctors and others affected by the sack action of the Lagos State Government will not return to work until they have all been individually served with a formal letter of ‘unconditional recall’ by the government.
At a press briefing held after the meeting, which took the entire day at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital [LUTH], the President of the NMA, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said that the decision to suspend the strike was consequent upon the intervention of President Goodluck Jonathan and many eminent Nigerians to end the crisis in the Lagos State Health sector.
While the NMA restated its endorsement of all the actions so far taken by the Lagos State branch of NMA and the National Officers Committee, Dr. Enabulele said the National Association of Resident Doctors [NARD] had been directed to ensure that all Resident Doctors nationwide resume work on Monday in accordance with the agreement at today’s meeting.
The NMA also resolved that any delay exceeding two weeks without letters of formal recall will spawn a nationwide strike action.
“There should be an unconditional recall by issuance of individual letters of recall to all the 788 illegally sacked doctors, without any punitive measures,” the resolution said. “If within two (2) weeks they are not unconditionally recalled, the EDM empowered the National Officers Committee of the NMA to issue a three (3) weeks ultimatum to Lagos state government to individually issue the recall letters or face a Nation-wide strike action.”
Today’s meeting also authorized doctors in other States that are yet to implement the CONMESS agreement, which is at the heart of the Lagos crisis, to begin pressing for its implementation, and to be prepared to use the strike option if need be.
“The EDM of the NMA revalidates its earlier December 2010 National Executive Council resolution directing all the state branches of NMA to negotiate with state governments yet to commence implementation of CONMESS, and to proceed on strike if necessary”, Dr. Enabulele stressed.
Among other decisions reached today, the EDM:
• Resolved that a meeting be convoked within two (2) weeks from the EDM between NMA Lagos state Branch and the Lagos State Government to sort out issues of withdrawal of sack letters and all agreements earlier freely entered into by the Lagos state government;
• Strongly condemned the casualization of labour in the medical profession and strongly advices the Lagos state government to stop forthwith this atavistic exercise in slavery.
• Resolved to utilize appropriate mechanisms to address all acts of disloyalty and gross abuse of the Association/ Medical Profession by her members; and
• Directed the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to suspend its earlier issued ultimatum to the Federal Government, for an indefinite strike action over the crisis in Lagos state health
sector.
Expressing all those who intervened in the crisis with the aim of resolving it, the NMA said it was directing the Lagos state branch of NMA to suspend its strike action with the hope that the Lagos state government will fulfill all agreements it earlier freely entered into with doctors in its employment.
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