Public servants join doctors on the streets as strike enters 48th day

Trade unions in the public service sector have declared weekly demonstrations in solidarity with the doctors and clinicians who have been on the streets for 48 and 30 days consecutively.

They said they are in solidarity with the Kenya Medical Practitioners, Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) to protect their professions and to fight the disregard for previously signed Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs).

The latest unions to support the strike and Tuesday protests include; the Union of Kenya Civil Servants (UKCS), University Academic Staff Union (UASU), Kenya Universities Staff Union (KUSU), Kenya National Union Of Teachers (KNUT), Kenya Union of Post Primary Teachers (KUPPET), Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO), Dock Workers Union (DWU), and the Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN).

“The doctors' CBA is a CBA like any other and if the government violates it, no CBA is safe,” said KUSU Secretary General Dr. Charles Mukhwaya.

UASU’s Dr Constantine Wesonga added: “Why should Kenyans pay politicians more than professionals? Why should CASs be paid Ksh.760,000 and you are telling doctors to take Ksh.70,000? Hii Kenya ni yetu sisi sote, we pay taxes! Let us start from this; kila mtu achukue salary yake aweke kando then we start fresh...”

The unions have also taken issue with the statement by the Public Service Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria on the intention to convert public service workers from permanent to contractual terms of employment saying it is against labour laws and the International Labour Treaties and Conventions, to which Kenya is a signatory.

“There are so many doctors who have received show cause letters, there are many more who have been fired, there are so many who have gone to court, but we know one thing; we are not getting help from courts, we will not get help from employers, our help now is in our solidarity, and we will not go back to work if any one doctor is affected,” KMPDU SG Dr. Davji Atellah said.

Clinical officers have accused the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) of failing to okay their agreement with the Ministry of Health to increase their risk allowance from Ksh.3,000 to Ksh.15,000.

“Where we have reached, we have a government that does not care about its people and especially the county governments because we have gone to the Ministry of Labour, they were supposed to come for conciliation that the court ordered for today, but there is no county that appeared...and that has been the trend since we started this CBA...courts have given orders to come to the table, they have refused; actually we are on strike because the county governments have forced us to,” KUCO Chairperson Peterson Wachira noted.

The medics have maintained that they will be on strike for as long as it takes until the government implements the 2017 CBA.