Thrissur: Nurses working in private hospitals across Kerala are set to go on a token strike tomorrow, February 21. Organized under the leadership of the United Nurses Association (UNA), the primary demand of the protest is to increase the basic minimum wage for nurses to ₹40,000.
Currently, the minimum wage stands at just ₹20,000. The UNA points out that there has been no pay revision in the state’s private healthcare sector for the past seven years, prompting the urgent call for government intervention.
Key Details of the Strike
- Hospital Impact: Tomorrow, only one-third of the nursing staff will report for duty to ensure emergency services remain active. The remaining staff will actively participate in the token strike.
- Rights Declaration Convention: A major convention will be held in Thrissur on the day of the strike to officially declare the nurses’ demands to the public and the government.
- Warning of Escalation: UNA National President Jasmine Sha warned that if the state government fails to issue a favorable order regarding the wage hike, the association will escalate to more intense, indefinite strike measures in the coming days.
Systemic Issues Highlighted
During the announcement, Jasmine Sha also addressed the recent medical negligence incident at Alappuzha Vandanam Medical College, where a surgical instrument was left inside a patient’s abdomen. He categorized the incident as a failure of the healthcare system rather than individual negligence.
He emphasized that strictly maintaining a proper nurse-to-patient ratio is essential to prevent such errors, and he strongly criticized the tendency of doctors to shift the ultimate blame onto the nursing staff.
