By Arnold Ageta
The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has called off the industrial strike that its members in Nyamira County had started five days ago.
The nurses called off the strike Thursday afternoon after successfully engaging Governor Amos Nyaribo in talks that lasted about three hours as they sought intervention for various issues they had raised and which they said were hindering their effective service delivery.
The medics had gone on strike on Sunday night, protesting stalled promotions and re-designation of members, undue demotion of members, chronic delay of salaries and unpaid salaries and nonpayment of arrears.
The medics also cited improper organizational structures, acute shortage of nurses, unwarranted deduction of training levy, harassment of members, and refusal to negotiate on the last CBA.
Union members led by the National Deputy Secretary Hesbon Otieno had been embroiled in talks with the county government over the last four days without reaching an agreement.
But on Thursday, Governor Amos Nyaribo, alongside the leadership of the trade union, announced the end to the strike, which had posed an imminent threat to service delivery to all county facilities, especially considering that nurses are the majority of caregivers in the devolved unit.
According to the agreement, which was signed by both parties in the presence of County Secretary Dr. Jack Magara, County Attorney Erastus Orina, and County Executive Member for Health Services, Dr. Donald Mogoi, all the issues the medics had raised will be addressed on a priority basis.
In the return-to-work formula, the county, through its Service Board, shall initiate promotions of 83 nurses under common cadre establishment with immediate effect and complete the process by March 31, 2025, to be implemented with effect from April 1 of the same year.
It was also agreed that, through the County Public Service Board (CPSB), 148 nurses under competitive cadre would be promoted by March 31, 2025, and effected by the end of June 2025.
The verdict on the nine nurses who were demoted due to irregular promotions could be known by November 2024 after talks with the CPSB have been concluded.
Governor Nyaribo assured that all arrears for the newly recruited nurses will be paid upon approval of the county’s first supplementary budget 2024/25.
Nyaribo said that since the matters raised by nurses were cutting across all other departments, chief officers had already been ordered to list all staff due for promotions, and that the county would work on all the challenges effectively.
“We are determined to have an efficient workforce where all workers have the same spirit of serving the people without feeling as lesser workers,” Nyaribo said.
The national KNUN Deputy Secretary, Hesbon Otieno, on his part, also urged the government to be continually listening to medics and addressing their issues without necessarily waiting for strikes for them to respond.
“The County should be as proactive to prevent disagreements which otherwise should have been sorted without union members going on strike,” Otieno said.
