The Joint Health Sector Unions has directed its members to begin mobilisation across health institutions nationwide. The union is preparing for possible industrial action. The trigger is the delayed adjustment of the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS). The demand has remained unresolved for about 13 years.
CONHESS is the standardised public-sector salary structure for healthcare workers, excluding medical doctors and dental surgeons. It covers unions including the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, the Nigerian Union of Allied Health Professionals, and the Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations. Adjustments have lagged for years. In 2014 and 2018, JOHESU embarked on prolonged strikes over the same issue. In 2021, the government constituted a High-Level Body Technical Committee. Its report was submitted in 2023. The Presidential Committee on Salaries has not met to approve it. The pattern is familiar: committees, reports, delays, strikes.
JOHESU issued the warning after its National Executive Council meeting. In a statement signed by National Chairman Kabiru Minjibir and National Secretary Martin Egbanubi, the union directed members to remain on alert. It said mobilisation should commence across health institutions for possible industrial action. The statement warned of “necessary but corrosive and unparalleled resistance” if the government succumbs to any threat to thwart the demand.
The union recalled that President Bola Tinubu promised to implement the adjustment on 5 June 2023. He made the promise when he appealed to members to suspend their strike after assuming office. The Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare forwarded the 2021 report of the High-Level Body Technical Committee to the Budget Office of the Federation on the same date. JOHESU said the Presidential Committee on Salaries has yet to approve the adjustment because it cannot meet. The union said it would not accept further delays on that ground. It cited the Trade Unions Act, Cap T14, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, which empowers unions to negotiate benefit packages and collective bargaining agreements. It urged members to remain peaceful while awaiting directives from the NLC and TUC.
Winners: JOHESU, which asserts leverage. The NLC and TUC, which gain a coordinating role. Health workers, if the adjustment is approved. Losers: Patients, who face disrupted care if a strike begins. The Federal Government, which faces another labour crisis. The health system, which loses staff time. The Presidential Committee on Salaries, whose inaction is exposed. Taxpayers, if the adjustment requires additional spending.
Bottom Line: Thirteen years is too long. Tinubu promised in 2023. The committee has not met. Health workers are mobilising. Patients will suffer first. The government must convene the committee and approve the adjustment. If it does not, the strike will come.