Many nurses ‘return’ to work at Lakeshore

KOCHI: The latest salvo in the bitter battle between the nurses’ union and the management of the Lakeshore Hospital has been fired by the hospital management, which claimed in a press release that 59 nurses who were part part of the union, have given up the agitation and reported back to work.
“We had informed all the nurses that no penal action would be taken against them if they return to work. A total of 48 nurses resigned from the United Nurses Association when the union took up the strike for the second time. In the course of the strike, another 11 nurses resigned from the union and joined us again. Six more have confirmed that they will rejoin duty,” said Dr Philip Augustine, managing director of Lakeshore Hospital.
Meanwhile, the nurses’ union has claimed that the resignations came only after careful consultation with the union. “The nurses about whom the management is talking, are actually those who will be leaving for foreign shores very soon.
Some of them have already submitted their resignation. So going on a strike at this juncture could upset their plans. It was owing to this that we asked them to stay away from the second strike. Also, some senior nurses were asked not to join the agitation  because their absence could adversely affect the condition of some serious patients. However, the total number of nurses keeping away from the strike would come to just about 30. The allegation that nurses have resigned from the union after the second strike is completely baseless,” Jasmine Shah, the president of United Nurses Association, asserted.