Hospital staff strike for health allowance continues

ABBOTTABAD: The class IV employees, clerical and sanitary staff of hospitals across Hazara division continued their strike for the eighth consecutive day, despite warnings of legal action by the provincial health authorities.

The protestors went on strike last Monday on the call of their Peshawar based body, demanding payment of Health Professional Allowance which the provincial government has been paying to doctors, nurses and paramedics for nearly two years in the province.  The provincial health authorities however, have yet to concede to their demands.

Because of this, the initially announced four day strike has been extended indefinitely.  Due to the strike, sanitary and security conditions, and other functions related to protesting officials have been badly affected. The strike has made the doctors’ pre and post-surgery jobs more difficult and they are having trouble managing the patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2017.