האגודה הישראלית לחקר יחסי עבודה

Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Health said on Wednesday at the end of a meeting of the Federal Government negotiating team saddled with the responsibility of addressing the issue, that there was the need to harmonize all issues in the sector in other to ensure industrial harmony.

Members of the government team include Sen. Ngige, Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole , Minister of State for Health, Dr. O. Ehanire, Chairman of the National Income, Salaries and Wages Commission, Chief Richard Egbule and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Dr. Clement Iloh.

The government set up two committees to look into the issue of the circular on salary adjustments and the payment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure skipping arrears .

According to Sen. Ngige, there was an overriding need for social dialogue as the only sure way to industrial peace, adding that "We have set up two committees ; one is to look into the issue of JOHESU demands for relativity Circular to enable them get reasonable wages while the other is to look into the issue of skipping because members of the Health Sector Unions, Nurses and Midwives Association, Laboratory Association want to skip a particular grade level."

He disclosed that the Nigerian Medical Association also made a joint position on skipping, hence the need to harmonize the positions in the spirit of collective bargaining, bearing in mind the extant economic down turn in the country.

Minister of Health, Professor Adewole emphasized the essence of peace in the health sector, saying "this is the beginning of lasting peace. We wish to take every complaint on board. We will look at them critically in a way that will remove any form of interruption in the national healthcare delivery."