The Kaduna State Government led by Governor Nasir El-Rufai has cautioned health workers against its planned strike action.
Okay.ng understands that the Congress of Health Workers Unions and Associations in the State threatened to embark on strike in a communique demanding refund of the 25 percent of their salaries that were cut-down by the state government.
The association also asked the government to provide Personal Protective Equipment.
However, in a statement issued by Special Adviser to the governor on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, responding to the threat said it is “criminal” to declare a strike action amidst the coronavirus pandemic.
The statement read: “The government rejects the strike threat and will regard persons who fail to show up at their assigned places of work as having forfeited their employment. Every health worker that is willing to work is required to sign the register at the Ministry of Health and the health institutions to which they are deployed.
“The Ministry of Health has the mandate of the government to ensure that residents of Kaduna State are not deprived of public health services.
“Every effort will be made to ensure that health facilities keep functioning, staffed by willing workers who will be guaranteed free and safe access to health facilities. Those who are not willing to work are strongly warned against criminal actions such as attempts to impede access to workplaces, harass willing workers or to sabotage facilities and equipment.
“The state government will not be misled into granting health workers a special status amongst public servants. The consequences of concessions made along such lines by previous governments have created a sense that some public servants are more precious than others.”
