Nurses set conditions for ending their strike

Union says it is ready for talks but will only return to work once outstanding issues are addressed. Nurses have said they are willing to end their nationwide strike, but only after agreements on their employment terms are fully implemented.

The Kenya National Union of Nurses and Midwives (KNUNM) said it remains open to constructive talks with the government and the Council of Governors (CoG). However, the strike, which began on July 29, will continue until the concerns raised by nurses and midwives are resolved.

The strike has now entered its fifth week, disrupting services in public health facilities across the country. Patients have continued to face delays and limited access to care.

KNUNM Secretary General Seth Panyako said the union supports dialogue but will not accept promises that are not acted upon. He spoke after meeting Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Nassir, the chairperson of the CoG Health Committee. “We have met Governor Nassir to deliberate and explore solutions to resolving the ongoing nationwide nurses’ strike,” Panyako said.

He said the dispute concerns the welfare and employment of nurses and midwives, and was not intended to punish patients. “We are committed to multi-level diplomacy and we aggressively continue to pursue structured engagements at both the county and national levels to address labour grievances and restore normalcy in our health facilities,” he said.

The union wants the 2017 return-to-work agreement implemented, the nurses’ Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) concluded and put into effect, career progression guidelines adopted, and Universal Health Coverage (UHC) workers absorbed into permanent and pensionable employment. It is also demanding the implementation of county-level agreements and the resolution of other employment grievances.

Secretary General Panyako said recent talks with the CoG Health Committee had made progress on career progression guidelines and the status of UHC workers. The union and governors have tentatively agreed to create a committee to review and develop a framework for implementing the guidelines. “The career guideline, we tentatively and informally agreed that it shouldn’t be an issue. The union should forward names of people to sit on the committee to look into the revision of the career guidelines,” SG Panyako said.

The union has welcomed efforts to address the status of UHC workers, but insists they should receive official confirmation of their permanent and pensionable employment. SG Panyako said a directive had already been issued to deal with the human resource and payroll issues affecting the workers. “The President, when he promises like that, in Kenya, we expect the words of the President to be honoured and implemented,” he said.

The CBA remains the main unresolved issue. SG Panyako said it must be concluded and sent to the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC) for a letter of no objection before nurses can resume duty. “The other issue which is now not settled is the CBA. We plan on meeting over the week and we hope that they will be serious and we hope we will get a letter of no objection so that our members can go back to work,” he said.

Another union official, Maurice Odhiambo, said the strike would continue until the CBA, UHC employment letters and career progression guidelines were addressed. “The nurses will not go back to work until we have the CBA, until we have the UHC staff getting their letters of PNP and paid gratuity, until our career progression guidelines are implemented,” Odhiambo said.

Mr. Odhiambo also criticized governors who are recruiting nurses during the strike. He questioned why funds were now available for new recruitment while long-standing grievances remained unresolved. His comments followed Governor Nassir’s directive for the immediate recruitment of 573 nurses on contract terms in Mombasa. Nassir said the county has no shortage of nurses and that more than 1,000 people would apply if vacancies were advertised.

The governor, however, appealed to health workers to allow negotiations to continue. “We are appealing to the health workers to end the crippling strike and give dialogue a chance,” Governor Nassir said.

The union said only its national leadership can officially call off the strike. Maurice Odhiambo said branch officials do not have the authority to end a national industrial action and asked nurses to remain firm in counties where they had been told the strike was over. “We reassure our nurses and the public that the strike is on until the governors and SRC act,” he said.

The union has warned that the dispute could widen if the outstanding matters are not settled. SG Panyako had earlier given the SRC seven days to issue no-objection letters and support the implementation of pending agreements.

The strike continues to affect public hospitals, and the union has threatened to extend the action to national referral facilities if there is no settlement.

For now, the nurses say they are ready to negotiate, but their return to work will depend on signed agreements, official approvals and full implementation. The union says key parts of the 2017 return-to-work formula remain unimplemented.