The Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations (AHPA) have declared an indefinite nationwide strike, accusing the Federal Government of neglecting their 12-year demand for the adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).
The decision was announced on Friday at the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) National Secretariat in Abuja, following a unanimous resolution of their Expanded National Executive Council.
In a statement signed and read by JOHESU National Chairman, Kabiru Ado Minjibir, the unions said the strike is necessary to alert members and the public to an escalating trade dispute with the government.
The unions noted that several letters and reminders had been sent to relevant ministries, departments, and agencies (MDAs) since the suspension of their last strike on June 5, 2023, a halt only achieved after President Bola Tinubu’s intervention.
Despite signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Federal Government on October 29, 2024, following a seven-day warning strike, JOHESU said there has been “no positive response” to key demands, despite repeated assurances at follow-up meetings.
At the centre of the dispute is the non-implementation of the High-Level Body Committee report on CONHESS adjustment, submitted to the Presidential Committee on Salaries and Wages in 2022. The issue has remained unresolved since January 2, 2014, when the government adjusted medical doctors’ salaries without a corresponding review for other health workers, violating the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement.
JOHESU lamented that successive governments have failed to correct this long-standing injustice. Even after President Tinubu met with a two-man JOHESU delegation in June 2023, the promised action did not materialize.
The unions also noted that MDAs often blamed the delay on the non-reconstitution of the Presidential Committee on Salaries, yet “since the reconstitution of the PCS, the matter was not given priority attention until the last 48 hours”, when the government began what the unions called “late attempts” to address the issue.
The unions have warned that the strike will continue until their demands are met, urging the government to act promptly to prevent further disruption of healthcare services nationwide.
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