Professor Isaac Adewole, Nigeria’s Health minister

With workers of Jos University Teaching Hospital (JUTH) set for a fresh strike over the non-payment of April and May salaries, the Federal Government has reaffrmed its resolve on the no-work-no-pay rule.

The workers had gone on strike in March and remained at home till June, with government vowing that it would not pay for the period they were out of office.

Last month, the workers were indeed paid just their June salaries, leaving out the two months.

The miffed workers have, however, vowed never to accept the situation and signified intention to go on another strike next week, to press for the salaries.

But government, in a letter to the management of the hospital said that the request by workers and their unions for the refund of their salary deductions during the period of the strike, should be disregarded.

“Should any worker go on strike because of this, forward his or her name and the IPPIS number to the Federal Ministry of Health and the office of the Accountant General of the Federation for stopage of their salaries,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by Dr Wapada Balamis, Director, Hospital Services, Federal Ministry of Health, and dated July 29.

The letter reaffirmed government’s commitment to ending the endless strikes by the health workers, and pointed out that the no-work-no-pay rule would be applied to any strike action.

Meanwhile, the management of JUTH has expressed surprise that the unions and workers were venting their anger on the hospital’s authorities, and recalled that it had communicated the Federal Government’s resolve on the no-work-no-pay resolve to them long ago.

`Ẁe made it clear that government will apply the rule. We wrote several communications to that effect.

“We are again giving another information to that effect. Workers should not embark on strike.

“They should not take the law into their hands

“We enjoin staff to continue to carry out their God-given duty and guard against being vulnerable to misinformation,” the management said in a statement signed by the hospital’s Chief Medical Director, Prof. Edmund Banwat. (NAN)