The University of Uyo Teaching Hospital Branch of the Association of Resident Doctors has embarked on an indefinite strike over “incomplete salaries’’.The President of the association, Dr Christian Adeneye, made the announcement in an interview in Uyo on Friday.
Adeneye explained that resident doctors in the hospital had been receiving incomplete salaries since 2014, saying that all efforts to make government see reason on the mater had failed.
“We are embarking on an indefinite strike from today. The problem is about the incomplete salaries that we have been receiving for two years now.
“We have been negotiating with the Federal Government but there is insincerity on the part of government.
“We have been mandated nationally. All centres that are yet to comply with the implementation of the payment of our full salaries should embark on an indefinite strike.”
He said that the strike had not been postponed as was speculated by a section of the media.
The unionist confirmed, however, that there was a meeting with the Speaker of the House of Representative, Mr Yakubu Dogara, where it was agreed that medical centres that were already enjoying full salaries should not join the strike.
The president said that the University of Uyo Teaching Hospital was not in the list of teaching hospitals enjoying full salaries, so doctors there had to embark on strike.
He appealed to patients to bear with doctors on the development, assuring that work would resume as soon as government agreed to pay.
Adeneye said that doctors had shown enough understanding since 2014, when they started receiving incomplete salaries.
Patients were being attended to by nurses, senior doctors and other medical workers.
NAN
