KOCHI: The nurses at the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences will launch the second phase of their strike on February 21. The stir is being called to protest the harassment meted out by the hospital management to the nurses who took part in a strike in December, the nurses’ association said.
The strike was announced after the failure of a two-round talks between the hospital management and the United Nurses Association (UNA). “The hospital management has been harassing the nurses since our strike in December.
Around 250 nurses, who were appointed as interns at the hospital were dismissed after the strike. After this, the workload on the existing nurses has increased drastically and the nurse:patient ratio has declined considerably.
The meanest of all these is the low-grade service certificate which is being issued instead of the experience certificate.
Such certificates will not be recognised by any hospital,” said district secretary of UNA, Jithin Baby. The nurses also alleged that minimum wages have not been paid to them till February. “It was only when the strike was imminent they paid an extra 1,000 or 2,000 to a number of staff members, said the UNA representatives. The hospital, however, has denied the allegations. In a release, the hospital claimed that the minimum wages were paid and the hospital had agreed to most of the demands raised by the nurses. The present strike is being conducted to demand the transfer of a staff nurse, the hospital authorities said.