The Kenya National Union of Nurses (KNUN) has called off the industrial strikes its members had staged in Nyamira Count since Monday the 28th of October after signing a return-to-work formula with Governor Amos Nyaribo.
The nurses called off the strike Thursday afternoon after successfully engaging Governor Amos Nyaribo saying he has agreed to amicably resolve issues.
The national KNUN General Secretary Morris Opetu further said Nyamira nurses complained of improper organization structures, acute shortage of staff nurses leaving the few who are available overworked, unwarranted deduction of training levy, and adamancy of the governor’s administration to negotiate on the last CBA agreement.
In the return-to-work formula, the county, through its service board shall initiate promotions of 83 nurses under common cadre establishment with immediate effect and complete the process by March 31, 2025 for the same to be implemented with effect from April 1, same year.
It was also agreed that through the County Public Service Board, promotions for 148 nurses under competitive cadre would be initiated from March 31, 2025 and effected by the end of June 2025.The verdict on the nine nurses who were demoted due to irregular promotions could be known by November 2024 after talks with the Board shall have been concluded.
Governor Nyaribo assured that all arrears for the newly recruited nurses would be paid upon approval of the county’s first supplementary budget 2024/25.
He further hinted that since the matters raised by nurses cut across all other departments, chief officers have already been ordered to list all staff due for promotions so that the county would work on all the challenges procedurally and effectively.
“We are determined to have an efficient workforce where all workers have the same spirit of serving the people without feeling as lesser workers,” Nyaribo said.
The General Secretary urged the Government to be continually listening to medics and addressing their issues without necessarily waiting for strikes for them to respond.
“The County government should be proactive to prevent disagreements which otherwise should have been sorted without union members going on strike,” he commented.
According to the agreement signed by both parties in the presence of County Secretary Dr Jack Magara, the County Attorney Erastus Orina and Health Executive Dr Donald Mogoi, all the issues the medics had raised would be addressed on priority basis and the nurses were assured that no one would be victimized for participating in the industrial action.
By Deborah Bochere
