The nurses in Uasin Gishu county stopped working on December 16 because Governor Jonathan Bii would not talk to their union about a new pay deal. Their union leader, Seth Panyako, told the county and health ministry about the strike.
The nurses have many problems they want fixed. They want better pay and faster promotions. Klein Kimutai, who leads the local nurse group, says the county won't give special nurse jobs to nurses who trained for them. The county also hasn't given them new pay rates for 2024. They haven't made some nurses permanent workers either.
The nurses say the county broke promises about their jobs and didn't follow rules about how nurses should move up in their work. The county also takes too long to pay some bills, which causes the nurses to lose money from bank fees.
The strike has hurt health care at more than 138 places in the county. There are over 700 nurses there, and about 400 of them have steady jobs with retirement plans. The nurses believe county leaders took money that was meant to help them get better jobs. Many nurses have stayed at the same level for more than ten years because of this.
The nurses walked through Eldoret City streets to show they were unhappy. They sat at the county offices, hoping to meet Governor Bii. But he and health leader Abraham Serem wouldn't answer phone calls about the problem. The county leaders also skipped talks that were set up to fix things.
Kimutai made things clear. The nurses won't go back to work until someone listens to them and fixes their problems. The county hasn't done anything about their complaints yet.
The nurses have many problems they want fixed. They want better pay and faster promotions. Klein Kimutai, who leads the local nurse group, says the county won't give special nurse jobs to nurses who trained for them. The county also hasn't given them new pay rates for 2024. They haven't made some nurses permanent workers either.
The nurses say the county broke promises about their jobs and didn't follow rules about how nurses should move up in their work. The county also takes too long to pay some bills, which causes the nurses to lose money from bank fees.
The strike has hurt health care at more than 138 places in the county. There are over 700 nurses there, and about 400 of them have steady jobs with retirement plans. The nurses believe county leaders took money that was meant to help them get better jobs. Many nurses have stayed at the same level for more than ten years because of this.
The nurses walked through Eldoret City streets to show they were unhappy. They sat at the county offices, hoping to meet Governor Bii. But he and health leader Abraham Serem wouldn't answer phone calls about the problem. The county leaders also skipped talks that were set up to fix things.
Kimutai made things clear. The nurses won't go back to work until someone listens to them and fixes their problems. The county hasn't done anything about their complaints yet.
