Kenyan nurses end two-week strike

70,000 nurses to receive up to $200 in monthly allowances beginning in January

By Andrew Wasike.

NAIROBI (AA) – The government and nurses reached a deal Wednesday to end a two-week strike that has paralyzed the country’s health care system and claimed as many as 20 lives.

“With the powers conferred to me by the national governing council of Kenya National Union of Nurses to officially declare the strike for nurses … officially suspended,“ said Seth Panyako, General Secretary of the Kenya National Union of Nurses.

The nurses last week joined more than 5,000 doctors who had walked off the job while demanding a 300 percent pay raise that was promised under a collective bargaining agreement reached three-and-a-half years ago between health care professionals and the government.

More than 70,000 nurses will receive up to $200 in monthly allowances beginning in January.

Minister of Health, Dr. Cleopa Mailu, on Wednesday urged thousands of striking doctors to return to the negotiating table to end the looming health crisis in the East African nation.

Kaynak:

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