KMPDU chairman Samuel Oroko (left) and secretary-general Ouma Oluga
address union members and supporters outside the labour court in Nairobi
on January 3, 2017. The union has called off talks with the government.
PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP.
A judge has ordered that officials from the national doctors' union be jailed for one month amid an ongoing strike.
The
ruling by Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Hellen Wasilwa
comes hours after Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu)
Secretary-General Francis Atwoli revealed that he was unable to end the
strike over pay and conditions at public hospitals.
“This
court decides to resume its order sentencing the applicants to a
one-month jail term,” Justice Wasilwa said while handing down the
sentence.
On Sunday, Mr Atwoli
admitted that he had been unable to end the strike, signalling a
continuation of the protracted industrial action that is currently in
its third month.
COTU FAILS
He blamed the prolonged job boycott on antagonism between two high-ranking officials in the Health ministry.
The seasoned trade unionist waded into the doctors' strike a week ago and promised to deliver results in a week's time.
A
last-minute intervention by Cotu and the Kenya National Commission for
Human Rights (KNCHR) earlier in the month earned the striking doctors
yet another reprieve in the matter of their 30-day jail sentence.
The
court allowed Atwoli and the KNCHR to help resolve the impasse between
the State and officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists
and Dentists Union (KMPDU) after Mr Atwoli pleaded with Justice Wasilwa
to offer the doctors and the government seven days to strike a deal.
THE TUSSLE
The
ad hoc team that had volunteered to intervene between the government
and the doctors said it had done all it could but had been unable to
persuade the doctors to return to work.
“Through
our intervention, the government had offered to increase the basic pay
and the allowances for doctors significantly,” said Mr Atwoli.
Doctors
at public hospitals have been on strike since December 5 and KMPDU had
previously warned that doctors at private hospitals might join the
strike if union officials were jailed.
Six days ago, the Nation revealed the tussles between the government and the union officials that have prolonged the strike.
SH221,000 PLAN
A secret return-to-work formula by doctors and seen by the Nation revealed
glaring mistakes in the salaries section, with a salaries table in the
appendix quoting job group ‘M’ as earning a minimum basic salary of
Sh54,532 and a maximum of Sh68,165.
In
this group, medical interns would also get a house allowance of
Sh28,000, a doctor’s allowance of Sh72,000, a commuter allowance of
Sh8,000, and a non-practice allowance of Sh19,000.
The
take-home package for interns in the pay structure proposed by the
doctors’ union totals to about Sh221,000, including risk and extraneous
allowances.
But the salaries for
people in job group ‘M’ as stipulated in government records is different
from what the doctors were demanding, as the minimum basic salary is
fixed at Sh44,989 and a maximum of Sh56,236.
TALKS OFF
The
house allowance is Sh28,000, the doctors allowance is Sh66,000, a
commuter allowance of Sh6,000, and a non-practice allowance of Sh12,000.
When the risk and extraneous allowances are tallied, the intern’s take-home is Sh196,989.
Doctors later dismissed the report, claiming the document did not come from them.
And
as the seven union officials now head to Industrial Area Prison in
Nairobi, it is unclear whether the stalemate will be resolved.
In
the meantime, doctors have suspended any engagement with the government
on the 2013 CBA until their officials are out of jail.
Here is a timeline of the court battle:
- January 10: Doctors warm up for a bruising legal battle with the government after a court ordered the arrest of their union officials for contempt of court.
- January 11: Police are yet to arrest Kenya Medical Practitioners', Pharmacists' and Dentists' Union officials as ordered by a court
- January 12: The Employment and Labour Relations Court sentences seven officials of the doctors' union to a one-month suspended sentence.
- January 24: Doctors, through their eight union officials, move to the Employment and Labour Relations Court seeking an extension of the negotiation period with the ministry of Health over their pay demands.
- January 26: The Labour court extends the suspension of a jail sentence it granted doctors’ union officials on the condition that they end their job boycott in five days.
- February 3: A last-minute intervention by Cotu and KNCHR earns striking doctors yet another reprieve in the matter of their 30-day jail sentence.
- February 13: Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Justice Hellen Wasilwa upholds her sentence to jail the seven union officials for one month.
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