Kenya health workers issue 21-day strike notice due to safety concerns

Health workers in Kenya have issued a 21-day strike notice as the government fails to meet their demands on safety at workplaces, according to a news report by Daily Nation.

The staff is allied to the Kenya Health Professionals Society (KHPS) which is made up of seven unions representing 17 cadres of health workers.

Addressing journalists in Nairobi Thursday, Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (Kuco) Secretary-General George Gibore said the unions had arrived at the decision following the collapse of talks with their employer.

"On May 18, 2020, the Labour CS initiated talks and these were not fruitful after 30 days as laid down in the law. The Constitution allows us to go on a protected strike once the conciliation talks fail to provide a solution after 30 days. We are not going to negotiate any further once the notice expires on September 9, 2020," he said.

The union is demanding the exclusion of elderly, sickly, and pregnant staff from active duty.

"We demand that the employer excuses staff with pre-existing conditions and the elderly aged 55 years and above as well as the expectant from active duty. This is because statistics show that all staff that has so far died of COVID-19 were either elderly, pregnant, or suffering from pre-existing conditions," he said.

He accused the government of compelling health workers to work in affected facilities despite reported cases of their colleagues getting infected.

"We have had cases of staff testing positive and then taken into isolation without their colleagues being informed and tested as contacts. This shows the government is not willing to trace the patient contacts or shut down the facilities in cases of community transmission," said Gibore.