This hospital Resident Doctors to Resume Strike

 

The Association of Resident Doctors in the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Umuahia, Abia State may commence another round of strike, following a notice to the management of the hospital that it will resume its strike over the weekend if agreements reached on the suspension of its 17 weeks industrial were not met.

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The ARD gave this warning, following what it described as the FMC management’s disrespect for the agreement it reached on October 5, 2015 on the intervention of Abia State prominent elder statesman, Chief Benjamin Apugo which led to the suspension of their strike on October 6. In a letter titled “Notice of Withdrawal of Services” dated, 16th of November 2015, addressed to the Medical Director, Dr. Chuku Abali and signed by the Association’s President and General Secretary, Dr. Okeke Arinze and Dr. Ezuruike Ezinwa, the ARD warned that it will withdraw the services of its members from 00.00 hours on Saturday, November 28, 2015, if the agreement reached between both parties was not honoured.

The conditions given by the association as bases for the suspension of the strike and which the FMC management agreed to meet, according to the letter include, the immediate recommencement of resident doctors’ call meals and the payment of 50 per cent proper placement for October 2015 to Senior Registrars and continued payment to all Registrars and Senior Registrars in subsequent salaries.

Others were the payment of arrears of proper placement to out-gone and present house officers and the immediate payment of monetized call meals to their residents from July 8, 2015, to November 28 2015, the period of which no call meal was made available to doctors on call. Speaking further on the development, the ARD, President, FMC, Dr. Arinze, said the two (2) weeks stay of execution given to FMC management was to give peace a chance despite the efforts of Dr. Abaliled administration to portray the ARD as strike mongers.

According to him, after the intervention of Chief Apugo where they tabled their demands and agreement was reached MD Dr. Abali, pleaded that they accept August salary while September will be paid with October due to paucity of funds. Arinze who revealed that FMC management has not remitted any check off dues collected from members’ salaries to the ARD since August 2015, in order to strangle the association financially, however, said the association has restrained itself from immediate recommencement of its industrial action despite the breach of trust out of respect to the new Federal Ministers of Health Medical Elders, Chief Apugo and the good people of Abia State.