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Nurses vow to ignore court order on strike

seth

Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary-general Seth Panyako. FILE PHOTO | NMG

Nurses in Marsabit and Homa Bay are set to join the national strike from today, bringing the number of affected counties to 10 despite a court ruling stopping the industrial action

Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary-general Seth Panyako maintained that nurses would stay out of their workstations in all the counties that are yet to accede to their demands.

“The only court orders that we are willing to abide by are those of employers such as the Kitui County who took us to court and we suspended the strike owing to the ruling. The Council of Governors is not an employer and, therefore, has no say in as far as this strike is concerned,” he told the Business Daily.

On Monday, the union suspended the strike in Mandera, Vihiga, Tharaka Nithi, Kiambu, Nyeri, Nyandarua and Kitui after the counties pledged to pay by end of February.

Mr Panyako, also indicated that strike could be suspended in Kisii, Nairobi and Elgeyo Marakwet if ongoing talks yield fruits.

He later announced the suspension of the strike in Nairobi for 48 hours.

Labour and Social Protection Cabinet secretary Ukur Yatani had initially set up mediation team in an effort to resolve the issues. The union has ruled out participating in the conciliatory talks, saying the national government had already done its part during the collective bargaining agreement negotiation.

“We are now at the implementation stage and that can only happen at the county levels. That is why we are dealing with individual counties,” said Mr Panyako.

“The union will not engage the Ministry of Labour on those issues that were negotiated at a national level.”

On Tuesday, the Industrial Court suspended the strike for a period of 60 days and has ordered the parties to attend the conciliation process before filing a report.

Council of Governors chairperson Wycliffe Oparanya asked nurses to resume work as he appealed to union officials to show up for mediation talks “as ordered by the court”.