On April 24, over 68,000 private hospital nurses, members of the United Nurses Association (UNA), had stepped back from a proposed indefinite strike and long march from Cherthala to Thiruvananthapuram.Thrissur: Creating a fresh stalemate, the Kerala Private Hospital's Association has said that if the increased wage structure announced by the government for nurses and other staff in the private sector is implemented, hospitals will have to shut down.
Accusing the government of making gross errors in calculating the new pay structure, the association said that it will seek legal recourse to prove their 'inability' to adhere to the government order.
On April 24, over 68,000 private hospital nurses, members of the United Nurses Association (UNA) had stepped back from a proposed indefinite strike and long march from Cherthala to Thiruvananthapuram.
In a midnight decision, the nurses had decided to call off the agitation that could have paralysed the functioning of over 450 hospitals.
The government, responding to a six-day strike called by the organisation had notified the increase in the minimum basic salary of private hospital nurses to Rs 20,000 with retrospective effect from October 1, 2017.
The managements said that they cannot pay the nurses the proposed salary and the retrospective effect will not be applicable anyway.
No confrontation
Meanwhile, labour minister T P Ramakrishnan said the government has an open mind on the issue.
“The decision regarding wages will be implemented with the cooperation of all sections involved. The government will not enter into a confrontation with anyone,” he said.
The UNA has warned of an intense stir if the revised wage structure does not come into force with retrospective effect.
The managements say that fixing the basic pay as Rs 20,000 is not practical.
But the labour minister asserted that the government issued the notification with the intention of implementing it.
“Managements have not informed the government that they will not increase the wages. If they approach the court, we will tackle the issue appropriately,” said Ramakrishnan.
Reiterating its stand, the UNA said that another agitation would be launched if the promises made to the nurses are breached again.
