Nehawu strike ‘an irresponsible action’ during a national crisis, says health department

The National Education, Health and Allied Workers’ Union (Nehawu) is flexing its muscles in the face of the pandemic to highlight the plight of its 235,000 members in the public health sector with a strike at the National Health Laboratory Service (NHLS) set for next week.

A clerk at the NHLS branch in the Free State said the strike would have a devastating impact if it was not averted. All critical tests related to disease in general, including Covid-19, HIV, TB and cancer, would be compromised by the strike.

“All test results come to me and then I give them to doctors. If I am not at work, it means doctors will not have the results for various tests. This means there will be no results for HIV, cancer or hepatitis,” the NHLS worker, who asked not to be named, said.

The staff member, a Nehawu representative, said the situation would be the same across the country’s 252 national health laboratories.

“This is the only time that is ripe for us to raise outstanding issues. Some of these issues have been raised before but we cannot, now that we are needed at the forefront, continue to ignore the safety of the front line workers,” the union member said.

According to Nehawu, the strike was part of its broader national programme of action adopted in July to protect its members and workers from Covid-19. The industrial action, according to the union, was aimed at sending a clear message to the health department that workers were tired and that Covid-19 had exposed government’s unwillingness to ensure workers were paid decent wages.

According to the union’s secretariat, government has been very slow in dealing with critical health and safety issues, as well as salary increases and risk allowances, or motivational incentives.

Spokesperson Khaya Xaba, said the process allowed for the employer to prepare and to stop the strike.

“We received the certificate about two weeks ago and we are serving it on 28 August. The ball is in their court now. We have not served the certificate yet so they have the time to negotiate and stop the strike,” he said.

Department of health spokesperson Popo Maja came just short of saying the looming strike was an irresponsible action during a national crisis. He said a strike in the health sector should be avoided and that “at the end of the day, when history is written on how South Africa managed to conquer the Covid-19 pandemic, our contribution as individuals and as a collective must be a positive reflection”.

“This is the appeal the [department] of health is making,” Maja added.

–siphom@citizen.co.za.

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