By Our Staff Writer
As the National Health Workers Union of Liberia (NHWUL) begins an indefinite strike action today, Wednesday, September 16, 2020, the Liberian government says any health worker joining the strike will be dismissed.
They are going ahead with their strike action at public health facilities around Liberia, after NHWUL said the government has failed to give redress to their grievances, which include failure to pay their hazard allowance amid the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic and certificating the Health Workers Union.
Less than 24 hours after the Union finally announced their decision to begin their stay home action at a news conference on Tuesday, the CDC government’s Information Minister, Eugene Nagbe told the local OK FM live phone-in talk show on Wednesday morning, that Liberian health workers who join the strike “will be removed from the government’s payroll”.
Those removed from the payroll will be replaced by others in the various medical and health training institutions, he warned.
But in their statement issued on Tuesday, NHWUL said:
“To our most surprise,the government officials took term to haul words of threat and intimidation at leaders and members of our noble union instead of addressing the workers’ concerns. They threaten dismissal of workers who will strike and replacement with students, and Justice Minister Musa Dean was magnanimous in his words, when he stressed the use of the police and army…
An executive of the opposition Collaborating Political Parties (CPP), Oritio Gould has strongly criticize the government of President George Weah for being insensitive to the critical nature of a health workers strike in the country at this time.
Instead of dialoguing with the striking heath workers, the CDC government is adopting a lassafaire attitude and threatening the health workers, Mr. Gould said in a radio interview in Monrovia on Wednesday morning.
The latest public threat from the government confirms a September 14, 2020 news report carried by this outlet quoting credible sources at the Health workers’September 2 meeting with President Weah and other top officials that they had issued threats.
The report quoted credible source as saying that the health workers were shocked, as they thought the meeting organized was a meeting to find the way forward to health workers plight. But rather, the source said it was a meeting to threaten those who are wearing the burning shoe (NAHWUL).
Liberian Health Workers Resolve To Begin Strike Wed., But CDC Gov’t Threatens Them