KOCHI: Vincent Alex, Regional Labour Commissioner One cannot say that strikes are valid but the ones for minimum wages have a legitimate motive. But, rather than going for strikes, I think a better option would be to exert pressure on the government and hospitals by raising public opinion. For instance, education loan is one of the biggest problems faced by young nurses. If the nurses can exert pressure on the government, they can get the loans waived like agricultural loans.Prem Nair, director, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences The nurses’ strike has resulted in a huge rift between the nurses and the hospital. There is a sea change in the attitude. Nurses refuse to recognise the dynamic nature of medical care which goes much beyond and over the call duty. They plainly refuse care now. Besides, the system of training period, which would have provided some much-needed experience, is now lost. This has led to the increase in patient costs.Hafeez Rahman Padiyath, chairman, Sunrise Hospital The cause of the strike, namely for minimum wages, was valid. But, many of the strikes which happen today are for unnecessary reasons. For instance, the demand for clear timings in hospitals for nurses is not practical. A hospital is not a factory. Here we deal with human beings. So emergencies and fluctuations are an essential part of the profession. Another problem in India is that nurses are not accountable for anything. The accountability falls either on the doctor or the hospital. If this changes, the wages of the nurses will automatically change.C R Neelakantan, Human Rights Activist The nurses’ strike raises very serious human rights issues. It is intriguing to note that a set of professionals, who are such an essential thread in the medical care industry and are expected to be immersed in continuous care have been neglected for so long. Even in a state like Kerala where labour unions are very strong, a strike had to be triggered from outside and that too got started only when male members started entering the profession.Dr C G Raghu, director, Ernakulam Medical CentreThe nurses’ have two major demands - better salaries and reinstatement of trainees. It is more than justifiable to expect minimum wages for their work. As far as I know, most of the managements have already implemented minimum wages for employees, including nursing staff. But what they are demanding now is fair wages. What is considered as fair wages by them, is well above the minimum wages set by the government. If implemented, it would be nothing but additional burden on the patients. Such a demand cannot be justified. If at all there needs modifications, let the government come up with new norms. Second is the demand to reinstate trainees. Hospital managements are fully justified in this issue. It’s the prerogative of the management to decide whether trainees should be retained or not. The decision is taken based on the performance appraisal of one year. If it is mandatory to retain trainees, how can new people be appointed? Fr Paul Moonjeli, director, Lissie Hospital The minimum wages and other statutory benefits as per the norms must be paid to the nurses. Wage revisions should be carried out through discussions, but as far as possible, without resorting to strikes.Another point to be noted is that concessions have to be made to wage revision in hospitals in rural areas, which usually run on a lower-cost.Indian Medical AssociationThe Indian Medical Association(IMA) has said that they are not against the nurses’ demand for minimum wages and regularisation of duty timing. Stating that the present situation has to change, IMA state president J Rajagopalan Nair said it was high time that everything is regularised. However, he expressed concern over the deteriorating working atmosphere in hospitals.Greater Cochin Development AuthorityThe hospital managements that flinch money from poor patients should give a commendable salary to the nurses, said GCDA chairman N Venugopal. He said the issue should be addressed at the earliest and minimum wages are the right of any employee. The exploitation of the nurses should stop, he said. Philip Augustine, Managing Director, Lakeshore HospitalWe are not against the nurses’ demand for minimum wages. “Our hospital was the first to implement minimum wages. But the recent strike is unnecessary and unlawful and we are not going to agree to it,” he said. The nurses are now striking for making the trainees permanent, he said and added that it was the discretionary power of the management whether a trainee should be made permanent or not. He alleged that the United Nurses Association was continuing with the strike to protect its interests and not that of the nurses.United Nurses AssociationThe United Nurses Association (UNA), which had been spearheading the agitations in many hospitals, said most of the time the management do not adhere to the agreement most of the times . UNA state president Jasmine Shah said the management had agreed to give minimum wages, it was not being carried out. Moreover, the nurses have to work at the hospitals for about 10-18 hours without the benefit of overtime or extra payment. Pointing out that the nurses were the worst exploited lot in society, he said their main demands were fixing minimum wages, eight hours duty and male reservation among others.
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