Liberian nurses threaten strike
PUBLISHED : Monday, 13 October, 2014, 4:21am
UPDATED : Monday, 13 October, 2014, 4:21am
Associated Press
A nurse walks with a little girl suffering from Ebola. Photo: AFP
Liberian officials are pleading with nurses and physician assistants to show up for work today amid a dispute over hazard pay that has prompted calls for a strike in the middle of the Ebola epidemic.
A strike could deliver a serious blow to the fight against Ebola in Liberia, where the World Health Organisation has recorded more than 2,300 confirmed, suspected and probable deaths from the deadly disease - more than any other country.
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf personally toured Ebola treatment units around Monrovia on Saturday asking health workers to remain in their posts, assistant health minister Tolbert Nyenswah said yesterday. "Everybody is appealing because it has adverse and very negative consequences on people suffering from Ebola and progress that has been made with the fight," Nyenswah said.
Members of the National Health Workers Association want US$700 monthly hazard pay on top of monthly salaries that are around US$200 or US$300. Hazard pay is currently less than US$500.
George Williams, the association's secretary general, said he was waiting for the government to address their specific demands. "Up to this point nobody has come to us to resolve them, so the strike action stands for Monday," he said. "Our doors are still open to negotiation and we are waiting." He accused the government of rushing to license nursing students to replace striking professionals.
