Nurses’ strike: VS demands Govt’s intervention

Saturday, February 04, 2012: CPM stalwart and Opposition leader VS Achuthanandan today demanded that the Labour department must intervene and immediately resolve the strike called by the nurses in private hospitals.
Speaking to the presspersons here on Saturday, VS added that the state government must initiate action against the private hospital managements who exploit the nurses without giving them better wages. Meanwhile the talks held between the Lakeshore hospital management and the striking nurses here on Friday morning failed to reach consensus once again.
During the meeting the Lakeshore management assured that they would hold a Director Board meeting on February 9 and take a favourable decision on providing better wages for the striking nurses. However the nurses’ association informed that they were not ready to accept the proposal put forward by the management.

Meanwhile the Kerala High Court on Wednesday directed the police to provide protection for the Lakeshore hospital soon after the nurses went on a strike demanding better wages.
Court ordered police protection while hearing a plea filed by the hospital management. Of the total 800 nurses employed at the hospital, 740 went on a strike, demanding a revision of the payment system and protesting against the anti-labour policies of the management.
According to the agitating nurses of Lakeshore Hospital, even the minimum wages stipulated by the government are not being paid by this institution which is a sought-after destination on the medical tourism map.
“The management has not yet contacted us for any talks. If there is no favourable response, we will go on an indefinite strike from Tuesday,” said Bibin P Chacko, president of the United Nurses Association.
The union had given a notice on January 9, citing their demands and conditions, but the management did not respond to it, he said. The hospital authorities said that the strike was illegal as the nurses were being paid minimum wages, and their salary was between Rs 8,000 and 14,000.
“They want a salary of Rs 16,000, which is impossible for any management to pay. We had held talks with them along with the labour department officials on Saturday, and they are demanding higher wages, not minimum wages,” said Dr Philip Augustine, chairman and managing director of Lakeshore Hospital.
He said that the strike had not affected the functioning of the hospital as they had a pool of nurses to tide over the crisis.