The Association of Resident Doctors at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospital in Ondo State has declared a 14-day warning strike over the failure to pay seven months’ wages to new members.
Members of the group, who mounted a demonstration on the facility’s grounds on Tuesday, promised to halt operations at the government-owned medical facility if their demands were not granted.
Dr. John Matthew, President of the UNIMEDTH ARD, met with journalists during the protest and expressed concern that their members had yet to be paid.
Other reasons for the warning strike, according to him, include the failure to provide palliatives to house officers since February, the failure to pay the February hazard allowance despite the state government’s promise to pay it for two months, and a staff shortage caused by the resignation of doctors from the institution.
He lamented that only 26 ARD members remained at the hospital, compared to 150 a few months before.
According to him:
“We demand full payment of the arrears of salaries owed our members and payment of February 2024 palliative to our house officers.
“Management should pay February hazard allowance to our members and urgently address the severe clinical manpower shortage in the institution. Our members work every day. There are no staff members due to Japa syndrome.
cc: Punch Ng
