Doctors promise to end overtime ban

Maputo, 5 Jun (AIM) – Resident doctors at Maputo Central Hospital, the largest health unit in Mozambique, on Wednesday announced an agreement with the government under which they will suspend their partial strike

The strike, which has been under way for three days, is essentially a refusal to work overtime. The doctors had warned in late May that they would stop working overtime as from 1 June, unless the government paid the debt run up for overtime worked in the past.

This meant that the doctors were refusing to work after 15.30 or at weekends or on public holidays. They sent a letter to the hospital management demanding payment for the overtime worked over the previous 13 months.

After negotiations with Health Minister Ussene Issa, the doctors agreed to suspend their strike, but warned that, if the government reneged on its promises, the strike would resume.

The spokesperson for the striking doctors, Ossifo Cafur, told reporters that the doctors thought it reasonable to suspend the strike. The Minister “has promised to solve the problems directly”, he said.

“We have suspended the strike temporarily”, said Cafur. The doctors had put their trust in the Minister and his negotiating team, but if they broke their word “we shall immediately go back on strike”.

They have given the government a deadline of 30 days to pay for the overtime. “We shall wait for another 30 days”, said Cafur, cited by the Portuguese news agency Lusa. “The intention is to see whether the agreement we have reached will be honoured or not”. He said the non-payment of overtime affects more than 300 doctors at the Central Hospital.
(AIM)
Pf/ (280)