Fiji Nursing Association President, Doctor Adi Alisi Vudiniabola has sent out a clear message today that their mandate for industrial action has been submitted to the Registrar of Trade Unions and it does not take much for FNA to call this into action and get the government to do what it needs to do and sack incompetent civil servants.
Vudiniabola says they want the government to honour its promises and correct the anomalies they created which has now confused the whole pay system of the nurses.
She says the FNA finds it abhorring that government has found it fitting to award itself a pay rise without considering the plight of the nurses and other workers in this country; those who are actually generating the revenue needed to meet the pay hike of the parliamentarians.
Vudiniabola says it seems their plea has fallen on deaf ears and there was never a willingness to address the nurses’ issues.
She says the nurses cannot and will not continue to be deceived by this government and they are prepared to take their issues further than the mediation process that they have been made to go through for the last few months which they feel is just another way of prolonging the whole process.
The FNA President says they want this government to be at least proactive in addressing their historical log of claims.
She is asking them to address the alleged abuse of office committed by their most senior officers in the ministry which has been creating heartache and pain for their members; including the alleged nepotism and bullying.
She adds these are issues, that apart from the confusion of payments and alignments of salaries and allowances, are actual push factors for our migrating nurses.
When asked on whether they are now planning to actively move towards strike action, Vudiniabola says they are already on that path.
She says the level of anomalies created by the Ministry of Health is frustrating and they believe that it’s deliberately provocative and focused on prolonging the awarding of what the nurses should be duly paid.
Vudiniabola says through their own ignorance and incompetence, the Ministry of Health has continued to commit mistakes creating more anomalies in nurses’ salary steps and bands and now with the records of years of service within the Fijian government.
She stresses that if the Permanent Secretary for Health and the Public Service Commission continue to watch them from the sidelines and behave like spectators despite knowing the deliberate flouting of rules and lawful processes that has contributed to this current impasse with the nurses, and still do not do anything about disciplining the senior civil servants in the ministry that have caused the mess, then the FNA has no choice but to take them to task through a strike action.
When contacted by fijivillage News, Health Minister, Doctor Atonio Lalabalavu says he is in Lautoka and he will have to look into their list of grievances before making further comments.
However he believes the pay increase issue has been settled.
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