Resident doctors in Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital (ABUTH), Zaria, has begun a five-day warning strike to press the management to meet their salary demands.
Dr. Ashiru Mikail, Vice President of the hospital’s chapter of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) made the disclosure in a briefing in Zaria.
He stated that the warning strike commenced at early hours of Monday after the one-week ultimatum given to the hospital management to resolve the issue had expired.
The VP said if nothing was done after the warning strike, the association would reconvene to review its strategy with a view to determining the next line of action.
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Mikail said the association’s demands include “rejection of percentage salary payments for members on the GIFMIS platform which it calls for immediate repayment of parts of the doctor’s salaries earlier withheld.”
He added, “Recall that last month the salaries of the affected members was slashed by about 25 to 27 percent representing N58,000 to N60,000.
“Additionally these doctors that were paid in percentage in June 2024 are also being owed salary arrears of 2021.”
He noted that despite the harsh economic challenges in the country, no cogent reason was given for the deductions by the management.
The vice president stated that the management of the hospital had proposed to pay the sum of N2 million to offset the arrears of accoutrement allowance per month from the overhead cost.
He revealed that the amount could only pay N5,000 to each doctor per month as against the N100,000 owed each member.
“More than 60 per cent of Federal Health Tertiary institutions in the North West zone have commenced payments of the arrears of accoutrement allowance but ABUTH is yet to pay.
“The management only proposes to pay N5,000 instead of N25,000 due for each member,” Mikail said.
According to him, the association also demands implementation of 25 percent CONMESS upward review to the salaries of members who are on the GIFMIS platform.
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