The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) said on Tuesday it would meet with the Federal Government over discriminatory payment of the COVID-19 Hazard Allowances within the health sector.
The JOHESU National President, Mr. Joy-Josiah Biobelemoye, who disclosed this to journalists at the end of an emergency meeting of the leadership of the union to avert a nationwide shutdown in the health sector in Abuja, said the meeting with the federal government would take place on Wednesday.
The federal government had last week released N4.6 billion to the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to settle their hazard and inducement allowances for the months of April and May after its recent industrial action.
Biobelemoye said: “We are very mindful of the consequence of shutting down the health system, but in recent times development had shown that we are being pushed, we are being forced to engage in a shutdown process.
“We clamoured for special hazard allowances for this COVID-19 period, we also entered an agreement with the government and what the agreement says in paragraph one(a) is very explicit.
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“It says, replace, whoever is earning N5,000 with 50 percent of his or her own basic salary and should be paid across board for the workers.
“But after more than a month delay, the payment was done and it had started generating huge uproar within the health system as this the payment did not fit into what was agreed upon initially.”
He noted that health workers are known to be those employed within the health sector, directly or indirectly to carry out health services for the good health of the citizenry.
“Some of these persons that have been discriminated fell into different categories and are more exposed than some of the professionals that are paid 50 percent,” the JOHESU president added.
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