THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The stalemate over wage revision of nurses working in private hospitals in the state continues with no consensus reached on Tuesday between the nurses’ association and hospital managements. The talks held under Labour Commissioner K Biju failed after the managements did not agree to the 50 per cent increase in wage put forth by the nurses association.
With talks failing, the Minimum Wages Committee meet, held here, decided to entrust the government with the task of taking a final decision on the issue. Meanwhile, the nurses said they will launch an indefinite agitation in front of the Secretariat from Wednesday. However, they have decided not to continue with their agitation in hospitals till they have held discussions with the Labour Department. INA president Libin Thomas said they will observe a fast in front of the Secretariat on Wednesday.
United Nurses Association president Jasmin Shah said they will wait for the government to take a decision. With the Labour Commissioner stating it is now for the government to take a decision, he said they will be forced to intensify their agitation if the discussions at the government level fail.
Ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, various associations of nurses held a separate meeting. In the meeting, they decided to stick to the 50 per cent increase in minimum salary. As per the Supreme Court order, they said the minimum wages of `20,000 should be given.
When a consensus could not be reached, the Labour Commissioner said discussions can be held at the government level under Labour Minister T P Ramakrishnan.