Doctors working in public health facilities now want the Government to implement a 300 per cent pay hike agreed on two years ago.
The Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU) announced Thursday they may go on strike if the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between them and the Ministry of Health is not officially registered in court and implemented.
The CBA, which was signed in June 27, 2013, will elapse in the next two months without doctors getting what had been agreed on.
KMPDU Secretary General Ouma Oluga said the Government has delayed to honour the CBA that was signed by former Public Health Permanent Secretary Mark Bor.
"We will not allow the CBA to expire. It has to be registered in court and implemented otherwise we will be forced to down our tools. The Government should stop playing poker with doctors," he said.
Dr Oluga said representatives of doctors in public health facilities will meet tomorrow to discuss the way forward. He claimed that county governments and the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) were not in place when the CBA was signed and therefore have no say over the matter.
Under the negotiated CBA, doctors were to get 300 per cent increase in basic pay as well as increases in a host of allowances. The CBA also stipulated that the entry level for doctors to be Job group "M" up from the current job group "L".
