JOHESU Threatens Fresh Strike Over Unpaid Salary Adjustment Deal

(JOHESU. Photo Credit: Facebook./punchnewspaper)

The Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) has warned of a possible fresh industrial action over the Federal Government’s continued failure to implement a long-awaited adjustment to the Consolidated Health Salary Structure.

National Chairman of JOHESU and President of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, Kabiru Minjibir, issued the warning in an interview with newsmen on the sidelines of the 114th International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, on Tuesday.

Minjibir said the unresolved salary adjustment had remained a major concern for health workers for over a decade, despite repeated engagements with the government.

He traced the issue to a provision in the salary structures introduced for medical doctors and other health professionals in 2016, which stipulated that an upward review of one salary structure would automatically trigger a corresponding review of the other.

According to him, while the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure for doctors had been reviewed three times, the equivalent adjustment for health workers under CONHESS had yet to be implemented a situation he described as the source of prolonged agitation.

The union leader recalled that JOHESU embarked on an 84-day strike last year over the matter, which affected federal health institutions across the country.

Following the action, the union was invited to negotiations involving the Minister of Labour and Employment and relevant agencies, including the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission.

A Memorandum of Understanding was subsequently signed, with an agreement that the salary adjustment would be implemented by the end of April 2026.

“It may interest you to know that up to this moment, that issue has not been addressed.

There is already agitation among health workers across the country that another ultimatum should be issued to the government,” Minjibir said.

He noted, however, that the union was still consulting widely before arriving at a decision on further industrial action.

He called on the Federal Government particularly the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare to ensure the timely conclusion of negotiations and extend the same salary adjustment to all health workers in the interest of justice and fairness.

Minjibir warned that failure to improve workers’ remuneration would have consequences for productivity in the health sector, stressing that patients are always the most vulnerable whenever health workers embark on strike action.

Responding to suggestions that non-medical health workers were merely seeking to ride on gains secured by doctors, the union chairman dismissed the claim, saying every health professional deserves remuneration commensurate with their responsibilities.

He described doctors as partners rather than competitors, and emphasised that healthcare delivery is a collective effort requiring collaboration across all professions.