The Kenya Union of Clinical Officers (KUCO) on Tuesday, January 7, issued a 14-day strike notice through their national Chairperson Peterson Wachira.
In a Press Conference held at the Coast General Hospital, Wachira revealed that the strike will kick off on January 19 if the demands agreed upon in their Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) in September 2024 are not met.
The clinicians have also named discrimination by the Social Health Authority (SHA) against clinical officers as one of their motivations for the strike.
"If we do not have an end to the impunity in the Social Health Authority and we do not have full implementation of the return-to-work agreement of 2024, all the clinical officers in the 47 counties under the Ministry of Health shall proceed on strike as from midnight of January 19, 2025," Wachira stated.
The strike will add to a series of strikes issued by the clinical officers in recent months bearing the same theme of unfulfilled CBA.
In July 2024, the union called off a grueling 99-day strike after signing a CBA with county governments.
However, two months later in September, the deal had yet to be established and they once again issued a 30-day strike notice listing a flurry of demands.
“It is unfortunate that even after 99 days of strike action and clear directions from the court the Council of Governors has resulted back to the old frustrating tactics of inviting the union to negotiate with individual counties against our agreement and court directives. This is a clear breach of agreement and a sign of lack of goodwill.” the statement read in part.
Consequently, a return-to-work agreement was signed, once again shelving the strike, a promise that has since been broken, yet again.
Since its implementation, the union has also constantly expressed its dissatisfaction with SHA citing clear discrimination against its members.
For instance, the clinicians claim that the new system has denied them pre-authorisation rights to access their patient’s medical files as was previously available.
This, they said, impedes their ability to effectively go about their duties and slows down patient care in hospitals as they require approval from their superiors.
