Medical Consultants Threaten Industrial Action over Wage Cut
 


Seriki Adinoyi in Jos

Medical and Dental Consultants Association of Nigeria (MDCAN) has given 21-day ultimatum to the federal government and the National Salaries, Incomes And Wages Commission (NSIWC) to halt persistent cut in wages of members or face total and indefinite strike action.

Addressing a press conference in Jos, Plateau State, President and Secretary of MDCAN, Professor Ken Ozoilo and Dr. Moses Chingle respectively, observed that it was disheartening that consultants teaching in universities across Nigeria have continued to suffer underpayment for over 10 years adding that, “this income loss is the result of the fact that their work in the teaching hospitals is under-compensated, and also the fact that the remuneration system in the university does not recognise them as doctors, despite the fact that the University primarily employs them because of the fact that they are doctors.”

Explaining further, Ozoilo said, “This income loss has led to the increasing difficulty in attracting the brightest and the best of consultants into the university as lecturers, a steady exodus of the few doctors in academia to service centres and a worsening of the brain drain phenomenon.”

He said that a letter from the National Salaries, Incomes And Wages Commission of April 23, 2021, Ref no: SWC/S/04/S.410/T/86 to the office of the Account General of the Federation had directed the removal of doctors who are lecturers from the CONMESS Salary Scale on the IPPIS platform for the payment of their salaries in the universities, a development he described as unacceptable.

He added that MDCAN had made several efforts to engage various arms and agencies of government with the aim of achieving a negotiated peaceable solution in the past 10 years but to no avail.
He said that efforts have been made by some federal universities to ameliorate the income loss by payment of clinical lecturers in those institutions on CONMESS Salary Scale in the university, relying on appropriate and relevant circulars issued by government.

“But that the letter from NSIWC has directed the removal of the consultants from CONMESS in those few universities is absolutely the last straw.
 Consequently, MDCAN has resolved to withdraw the services of its members from all public institutions to press home its demand for an appropriate, fair and just compensation for the work of clinical lecturers. NEC therefore, hereby issues a 21-day ultimatum effective from today, Monday 26th July of 2021 to government and its agencies as a notice of its resolve.

“We demand immediate withdrawal of the NSIWC letter Ref no: SWC/S/04/S.410/T/86 of 23rd April 2021 directing the removal of doctors from CONMESS on the IPPIS platform in the University. A directive that all universities previously paying their clinical lecturers on CONMESS Scale, before the aforesaid NSIWC letter should revert back to that practice immediately, Ozoilo said.

He added, “All clinical lecturers in the remaining universities should be placed on CONMESS Scale for the purpose of their remuneration in the University. Alternatively, award of a compensation for the income loss incurred by doctors in the University on account of being lecturers, provided that this shall also reflect in their pension contributions.

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Urging government to halt to the proposed movement of consultants from IPPIS back to GIFMIS for the purposes of payment of their salaries, the association also demanded that 100 per cent clinical duty allowance be paid for the clinical work done in the teaching hospitals.

“If our minimum demands are not met by Monday the 16th of August 2021, we shall have no alternative than to withdraw the services of our members from all institutions in which they are employed. The strike shall be total, absolute and indefinite.
“We hope the government and its relevant agencies will seize this opportunity to prevent another unnecessary round of disruption of medical education and clinical services across the country, ”MDCAN warned.