As doctors employed by the Lagos State Government end their three-day warning strike today, their union, the Medical Guild, says new talks with the government will begin next week.
The chairman of the Guild, Dr. Japhet Olugbogi, said this in an interview with Reporters. He explained that the decision was made after a positive meeting with senior government officials and the partial satisfaction of some of the doctors’ demands.
He said the Guild, which represents all doctors in Lagos public hospitals, had set clear conditions for ending the strike. The strike started because of unexplained salary cuts and unpaid allowances.
Dr. Olugbogi said Lagos doctors work very hard because the city is overpopulated, hospitals are understaffed, and many people depend on them for healthcare.
He explained that doctors were under a lot of stress, and because of the nature of their job, they had no choice but to go on strike after the government reduced their salaries without talking to them first.
He said that some top government officials had tried to make peace. They asked the doctors to either attend a meeting or end the strike, but the Guild said there were only two conditions under which the strike would stop.
The first condition was that the government must pay the one-year salary arrears owed to doctors under the revised CONMESS salary structure.
Dr. Olugbogi said the government had started paying the money, and some doctors had received part of the payment, but not everyone had been paid.
The second condition was that all salary deductions must be reversed immediately, while talks between the doctors and the government continue.
He said they had a meeting with government officials on Monday. The discussion was encouraging, but the government again tried to explain the cause of the salary problems—something they had been doing for the past few months without results.
Dr. Olugbogi said the reasons the government gave for the salary deductions were quickly disproved during the meeting.
He added that even the head of the committee admitted that what the government had called “errors” were really misunderstandings.
Dr. Olugbogi, who is also a public health expert, said doctors’ salaries were correct according to agreed pay structures. He said the government had never clearly shown any mistake in how doctors were being paid.
He said both sides had agreed to meet again next week, bringing all documents and arguments, so the remaining problems could be solved respectfully.
The strike had affected services in many government hospitals, worrying both patients and health experts.
Now that the warning strike is over, hospitals are expected to return to normal, while the Medical Guild prepares for another round of talks.
But the Guild’s chairman warned that if nothing changes in the next meeting, they might have to take more serious action to protect their members.
Dr. Olugbogi ended by saying they feel sorry for patients who are affected by the situation. He explained that doctors must be mentally focused to care for patients and should not be distracted by unpaid or reduced salaries.
