Lagos warns doctors over strike

FasholaTHE Lagos State Government has warned that doctors in its employment who partake in the planned three-day warning strike scheduled to begin today would have to forfeit which wages accrue to them during the period of the strike in accordance with the Trade Dispute Act.

This was contained in a circular issued yesterday by the state Head of Service, Mr. Adesegun Ogunlewe. He made reference to the provision of Section 43 (1) of the Trade Dispute Act, which he said would henceforth be enforced in the state.

The section states: “Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or in any other law where any worker takes part in the strike, he shall not be entitled to any wages or other remuneration for the period of the strike and any such period shall not count for the purpose of reckoning the period of continuous employment and all rights dependent of continuity of employment shall be prejudicially affected accordingly.”

He assured them of government’s continuous commitment to their welfare, particularly those providing essential services and stressed the need for them to respect their contract of employment, trade dispute act as well as ethics, oaths and code of their profession while in the employment of the state government.

However, this will not stop activities in Lagos General Hospitals from total shut down today as doctors in public hospitals begin a three-day warning strike to demand the implementation of the agreement they reached with the Lagos State Government last year.

Meanwhile, eminent Lagosians and human rights activists have appealed to the doctors to shelve the strike and embrace dialogue so that patients in the state’s hospitals would not bear the brunt.

A rights group condemned the planned industrial ation, saying that it is in bad faith, unpatriotic and unfortunate.

Humanity Services Project (HSP), led by Comrade Linus Okoroji, berated the doctors for their insensitivity, wondering why medical practitioners were embarking on strike based on an incomplete agreement with the government.