Nurses and support staff at Dora Nginza Hospital in the Eastern Cape, who have been on a wildcat strike for a week, have apologised to patients crowding the corridors and told them doctors will handle their care until the Department of Health has settled five months of unpaid overtime.
The Herald reports that the striking workers moved their protest through the psychiatric, dispensary and casualty wards after public order police dispersed them from the hospital entrance, where they had previously been blocking access to patients and colleagues who wanted to work at the Gqeberha hospital.
On Tuesday, patients – some on crutches – left the dispensary as staff sang in the foyer, where they held an impromptu meeting and vowed to continue their strike until a payment date for the overtime was confirmed.
The strike, condemned by provincial department spokesperson Siyanda Manana, was led by the National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu), the Democratic Nursing Organisation of SA (Denosa) and the National Union of Public Service & Allied Workers (Nupsaw).
Nupsaw regional secretary Phumlani Matinise said their action was indefinite.
“What we do will entirely depend on management. The workers who have not received their overtime payments for five months are in a panic.
“Until they come up with a clear answer, workers will stand their ground.
“They got their payslips today, but the payments do not reflect, despite their promise that payments would come this month,” he said.
Nehawu regional chair Tebogo Goniwe told patients at the casualty ward that workers were abandoning their posts.
“Only the doctors got paid – which means that our work here is not important. Therefore, those doctors must be the ones to see to your care.”
A woman who was accompanying a relative seeking medical care at the psychiatric department said they had been served breakfast on Monday, but since then, no medication or food had been provided.
“Nobody is coming to help her. I have been coming every day for eight days…today, no food, no porridge, no lunch, nothing,” she said.
Manana said negotiations with hospital management were ongoing.
“The memorandum is going through an internal validation process but the payments will be made,” he told IOL, adding that “a wildcat strike is not the way to go”.
"We condemn the action they took when they closed the access gate… they cannot deny access to patients and other staff, and negotiations with management are under way to resolve the matter.”
The Herald article – Dora Nginza staff strike over delays in overtime payment (Restricted access)
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