Lagos nurses to begin New Year with warning strike

Lagos State council of the National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) has instructed its members to embark on a three-day warning strike from January 10 over unmet demands by the Lagos State Government.

The association’s state secretary Oloruntoba Odumosu stated this in a circular, saying the resolution to embark on a warning strike was made at its meeting held on December 29, 2021.

This notice of industrial action comes a few months after the union abruptly aborted its decision to go on an indefinite strike in September 2021, following the last-minute approval of its request for payment of a uniform allowance for its members by the government.

The union says the government has failed to meet other demands, some of which it highlighted in the circular to be an acute shortage of nurses and midwives in the state-owned health facilities; payment of retention allowance, regularisation of graduate and stagnated nurses, improved welfare and working condition of nurses, improved hazard allowance, and life Insurance scheme for nurses and other health workers, among others.

The union also noted that federal health institutions have been exempted from the strike, which it noted will be monitored for strict compliance.

“The struggle at hand requires the commitment and steadfastness of all members. We urge you all to play your part well,” the union wrote.