Tonight, reports say the management of the country's biggest hospital, the KHMH is about to declare a trade dispute and ask the Ministry of Labour to convene an essential services arbitration tribunal. That's after a sickout today saw over 40 hospital staffers call in sick and it resulted in a major interruption in services. The units principally affected were the dialysis and radiology units where a number of persons with appointments had to be sent home. As we have reported, the hospital's union and the Ministry of Health have an ongoing dispute over pensions for some workers.
But now - as evidenced by today's sickout - relations are deteriorating. This comes after the KHMHAWU formally rejected the proposal of the government side - which is a 4% Ex Gratia payment towards the retirement benefits for qualified hospital staff for the period 2001-2017. A letter from the union says, quote, "the proposal was met with disappointment and has been outright rejected by the membership."
The union says it is ready to return to the table while the government side says it is still there. We'll keep tracking this dispute.
