Staff Writer
SENIOR nurses have notified government over the intention to withdraw their labour saying the reluctance by their employer to address their grievances seriously.
A letter dated July 10 2020 written by Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) on behalf of the Sisters in Charge and directed to all provincial medical officers confirmed the development.
“We note with concern the lack of urgency by the employer in addressing issues raised by Zimbabwe Nurses Association (ZINA) .The ongoing incapacitation has not been doing any good to the patient care in this period of Covid19 pandemic period.
“After consultations, and deliberations we hereby notify that we are withdrawing our services with immediate effect until the employer takes the nurses grievances seriously by way of fruitful negotiations,” said the statement.
The senior nurses despite the sacrifices they have continued to show, the employer has not been forthcoming.
They hinted that as a result, the government is forgetting that they still share similar concerns with the rest of the junior staffers who have since embarked on industrial action.
The country’s health sector faces total collapse because nurses have been on industrial action for almost a month now.
The strike comes at a time when inflation has reached 786% pushing prices of basic commodities and services beyond the reach of many.
International Monetary Fund has since confirmed that the economic reforms instituted by Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube since the inception of the second republic have gone off course, leading to the erosion of the Zim dollar’s value.
The currency instability has further led to the indexing of prices against the US$ resulting in reduced value of salaries to the effect that most civil servants are now earning salaries equivalent to an estimated US$40.
Analysts have warned that if government does not respond to the obtaining problems on time, the situation might degenerate into fully blown nationwide unrest.
//ENDS//
