Nigerian Medical Association chides LASG for sacking 788 Doctors

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos state fired
788 doctors in one day last week,
several days after the doctors
embarked on an indefinite strike to
press for better conditions of
service. The situation has led to
tremendous hardship for people
throughout the state seeking
medical service. To compound issues,other Doctors under the auspices of NIGERIAN Medical Association (union of Doctors)Lagos state chapter have embarked on strike as solidarity to their dismissed colleagues: below is the statement issued by NMA today:

VIOLATION OF WORKERS’ RIGHTS IN
LAGOS STATE
We wish to complain about the
illegal mass sacking of doctors by
the Lagos State Government on
Monday 7th May 2012, following
their participation in a warning
strike between 11th and 13th April
2012 under the aegis of the Medical
Guild.
In September 2009, following
several years of negotiations
between the Nigerian Medical
Association and the Federal
Government, the Consolidated
Medical Salary Scale circular SWC/
S/04/S.410/220 was released by the
National Salaries, Incomes and
Wages Commission. The main
principle of CONMESS is to serve as
a minimum universal scale of
remuneration for all doctors in
Nigeria regardless of location or
employer, in order to curb internal
brain drain. CONMESS is also
intended to correct the wage
disparity that has seen doctors’
salaries being progressively reduced
relative to other professionals over
the years following repeated wage
reviews.
The Medical Guild had been
agitating for implementation of
CONMESS by the Lagos State
Government since 2009 through
several letters and representations
to government. This culminated in
the strike actions of August to
November 2010, and February to
March 2011. The Lagos State
government dragged the Medical
Guild to the National Industrial Court
in August 2010 challenging the
legality of our strike action. The
President of the court, Justice
Adejumo, however ruled that the
Medical Guild did not err as it had
given the government sufficient
notice through several letters and
meetings with government.
In November 2011, the Lagos State
Government agreed to pay
CONMESS as approved in the
Federal Government Circular stated
above and committed itself to same
via a signed document. This
document specifically indicated
government’s acceptance to pay
and also not to place Lagos State
doctors at any disadvantage
whatsoever relative to their
colleagues anywhere else in the
country. The government later
rescinded on this agreement which
led to the second strike of February
to April of 2011. In late March 2011,
an agreement was finally signed
between the Lagos State
Government and the Medical Guild
to implement CONMESS in full. This
agreement which was signed by His
Excellency the Governor of Lagos
State, Babatunde Raji Fashola, also
included the cost of implementing
CONMESS in full. The Medical Guild
suspended its strike action in good
faith, despite the earlier reneging of
the Lagos State government, in
order to allow government
implement the agreement.
The Lagos State Government
however failed to honour the
agreement and however chose to
implement only certain aspects of
CONMESS. For the past one year,
the Medical Guild has been writing,
meeting and pleading with
government to correct the shortfall
in implementation of CONMESS. The
government however only chose to
shift and default on its promises.
The outstanding issues on
CONMESS implementation include
the following:
1. Demotion of all doctors to lower
steps on each grade level, thus
leading to loss of seniority and
income. According to the civil
service rules and according to the
agreements made with government
on CONMESS, all doctors are
supposed to be laterally converted
from the previous salary grade level
and step to the corresponding
salary grade level and step on the
CONMESS scale. The agreement on
CONMESS signed by the Governor in
March 2011 which led to our
suspension of the strike included
the cost implication of implementing
CONMESS in full with lateral
conversion of all doctors from the
old (CONTISS) scale to the new
CONMESS scale, level for level, step
for step, without any form of
demotion in step. Annex II of the
CONMESS circular (see the
attached) is very clear on
conversion from CONTISS (the
previous salary scale) to CONMESS.
All over the federation, migration to
the CONMESS scale is level for level
and step for step. Even the attempt
to demote officers by steps has
been fraught with serious errors and
caused total distortion in hierarchy,
such that senior doctors now find
themselves below their juniors. The
Medical Guild had written severally
to government to correct these
anomalies yet nothing was done
about it.
2. Demotion of GL 15 specialists
(Consultants) from step 4 and
above to step 1. Entry level for
specialists is GL 15 step 4 according
to the civil service rules. However,
specialists in Lagos State who were
employed on GL 15 step 4 were
demoted to step 1, and newly
employed specialists are being
placed GL 15 step 1. This is contrary
to what obtains in the CONMESS
circular and the extant civil service
rules.
3. Employment of new consultants
on GL 15 step 1: Points of entry for
various cadres into the different
salary scales are determined by the
National Salaries and Wages
Commission, which also determines
salaries for holders of political office.
The entry point for consultants has
been stipulated as Grade Level 15,
step 4. The Guild regards this as
sacrosanct. Dropping this cadre to
step 1 will amount to setting back
the profession three years. This is
not acceptable to us.
4. Pegging of GL 12 doctors in
LASUTH on lower steps compared
with their counterparts in the Health
Service Commission (HSC) who are
placed on higher steps. Normally,
entry level of Medical Officers and
Registrars is GL 12 step 2. Entry
level for LASUTH registrars was fixed
at step 1 and all registrars were
pegged at steps 1 and 2. However,
Medical Officers in HSC were
appropriately placed on step 2 as
entry level and higher according to
the number of years in service.
Therefore, GL 12 doctors in LASUTH
have been at a disadvantage for the
past one year.
5. Teaching allowance for House
Officers(GL 10) and Medical Officers/
Junior Registrars (GL 12): the cost
implication for the above was
calculated in detail and approved for
payment by His Excellency, the
Governor of Lagos State in March
2011 as part of the agreement with
which we suspended our strike. We
are therefore surprised that cost
implications are still being
recalculated 13 months after
implementation should have
started. This allowance is being paid
by other state governments as
contained in the CONMESS circular.
Attached are payslips from another
institution in Lagos and the
CONMESS circular (annex VII) to
back this.
6. Excessive tax paid by doctors:
part of the agreement with
government for suspending our
strike last year, was that the
excessive taxation will be reviewed
downwards. Contrary to this
agreement, from October 2011 the
tax paid by doctors was increased.
Initially we attributed it to the bonus
added to our salaries between
October and December 2011.
However, following return to our
normal salaries in January 2012, the
amount of tax we have been paying
has remained at the inflated level.
Despite our complaints about this
anomaly no rectification has been
made.
The association was forced to seek
other available and legal means to
ensure that government
implements CONMESS in full.
Bearing in mind the prolonged
suffering an indefinite strike action
would cause Lagosians, the
association opted for a 3-day
warning strike between 11th and
13th April 2012. This was intended
to put pressure on government to
do the needful and to alert the
public on the unresolved issues.
However, instead of government
initiating moves to resolving the
outstanding issues in the interest of
industrial harmony and welfare of
Lagosians, it embarked on a
vendetta to punish the doctors by
issuing queries and threatening to
sack doctors for participating in the
warning strike.
On receipt of the queries on 16th
April 2012, we promptly informed all
our members not to reply them
since our strike was a labour issue
and not an administrative matter.
The association replied the queries
on behalf of our members stating
clearly to government that the
strike was legitimate as it was a
resumption of our suspended strike
action of March 2011. Another
query was issued by government on
18th April 2012 threatening to
discipline our members for not
replying the first query. Still our
members did not reply the second
query. Furthermore, on Monday
23rd April 2012, the government
invited all doctors to appear before
Personnel Management Board
meetings (disciplinary panel) at the
Health Service Commission on Lagos
Island and in LASUTH, Ikeja on
Tuesday 24th April 2012 and
Thursday 26th April 2012.
The association immediately
instructed all the invited doctors not
to appear before any of the panels.
We however mobilised all our
members to appear together at the
Health Service Commission on Lagos
Island on Tuesday 24th April 2012
at 8 a.m., in solidarity with our
members that are being victimised
on account of the 3-day warning
strike.
On Tuesday 24th April 2012, on
getting to the venue of the
disciplinary panel at the HSC, we
were turned back from the venue by
a heavy detachment of armed
mobile policemen and armoured
vehicles. We were also reliably
informed that LASUTH had been
flooded with policemen and
armoured vehicles. We had to
relocate to the car park of the
General Hospital Lagos across the
road to hold our general meeting.
While peacefully conducting our
meeting, armed security personnel
were moving in and out of our
meeting with loaded firearms. At a
point, they even disrupted our
meeting by approaching our
chairman, Dr. O.P. Odusote, while
he was addressing the crowd, and
invited him for questioning at their
office in Lion Building in Lagos.
While at the meeting, we got
messages that government had
finalised arrangements to begin the
systematic sack of doctors. At this
point our members became agitated
and resolved to immediately resume
our suspended strike action until
CONMESS is fully implemented and
government withdraws all queries,
disciplinary panels, threats of sack
and security personnel from the
hospitals. The indefinite strike
commenced on Tuesday 24th April
2012 and has been on till date.
The Nigerian Medical Association,
Lagos State Branch, at its
emergency general meeting on
25th April 2012 supported the
strike action embarked upon by the
Medical Guild and warned that if
any doctor is victimised through
sack or otherwise on account of the
strike action, the NMA Lagos will
also join the strike action.
On Monday 7th May 2012, the
Lagos State Government issued
letters of dismissal to all members
of the Medical Guild for participating
in the 3-day warning strike. The
letter was dated 4th May 2012.
We urge the government to
immediately withdraw the sack
letters and all queries issued to our
members as it is totally in breach of
labour laws since the warning strike
was legitimate and a resumption of
the suspended action of 2010/2011.
Government should instead hasten
to ensure implementation of the
agreement and demonstrate its
good will by promptly paying the
appropriate salaries.

Dr. Olumuyiwa
Odusote
Chairman

Idris
Durojaiye
Secretary