Nurses have remained adamant vowing that the only return-to-work formula they will accept is a signed Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
Through their union, the Kenya National Union of Nurses (Knun), the care givers have threatened to go on with the strike for the longest time possible if the CBA they had agreed on with the government is not signed and registered in court.
Speaking today during a peaceful demonstration in Nairobi where they chanted placards written “No CBA, No work”, Knun officials said that no levels of intimidation from the government and Salary Remuneration Commission (SRC) would make them call off the strike.
The officials further dismissed claims made by Union of Kenya Civil Servants that nurses under its union were willing to go back to work as “ fraudulent and a sham”, citing that its Secretary General Tom Odege was hoodwinking both civil servants and nurses.
Knun Acting Secretary General Maurice Opetu further said that the union will not renegotiate the delayed CBA, saying that the union had a recognition agreement with both levels of government.
Opetu accused the government, through the Ministry of Health, of ignoring the plight of nurses due to the ongoing campaigns and political temperature in the country.
“It is good that Odege just explains how they arrived at the CBA with the Ministry of Gender Affairs. When did he negotiate the allowances and what measures were used to arrive at the CBA,” questioned Opetu.
