Editorial-May 6, 2014
The hurly-burly is done and warring nurses are back at work. Their crippling strike has been suspended following the appointment by the government of a high-powered committee to look into the issue of their midwifery training.
The question is why the government let the grass grow under its feet all these weeks without making such an intervention at an earlier stage to prevent trade union action by both midwives and nurses.
Midwives are on the warpath as they fear that nurses are trying to take the bread out of their mouth. They claim that nurses are all out to throw them out of labour rooms. Doctors have thrown their weight behind midwives and stopped training nurses in midwifery. All signs are that the aforesaid committee will have its work cut out as the parties to the dispute refuse to make compromises.
Nurses are determined to win their demand and doctors have gone so far as to suggest that military personnel be trained in nursing so as to handle emergency situations like the recent one. This country is, no doubt, grateful to its armed forces for their selfless sacrifices to eliminate terrorism and their contribution to the post-war reconstruction programme besides their active involvement in the battle against dengue. They have proved that they are equal to any task. But, it is not advisable to involve the military in affairs that are best left to civilians. Attempts to use the military to deprive trade unions of their bargaining power cannot be countenanced on any grounds. What if nurses demand similar action to deal with contingencies arising from doctors’ trade union action?
Midwives have been an integral part of the health sector for many decades and their invaluable service to the public needs to be appreciated. In fact, no less a person than President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who attended an International Midwives Day function in Colombo on Monday, showered praise on them. Their job security must be ensured and their fear that attempts are being made to reduce their service to a dying one allayed. Likewise, nurses’ right to look after their interests without threatening others’ should be respected and safeguarded. The same goes for all other categories of workers in the health sector or elsewhere.
Meanwhile, a government decision to reduce the duration of the Allied Health Sciences (AHS) degree course from four to three years has irked the Professions Supplementary to Medicine (PSM) and another trade union battle is likely to affect the health sector sooner or later. The Higher Education Minister is running with the AHS students and hunting with doctors. Aggrieved undergrads have been protesting for months, but to no avail.
Successive governments have blundered by appeasing powerful trade unions at the expense of others so as to avoid trouble. A government that lacks the courage to be fair by all workers and favours only a few in making policy decisions and settling disputes is not worth its salt. The present dispensation is in the habit of dilly-dallying on vital issues without grasping the nettle; it labours under the delusion that they will resolve themselves with the passage of time. It boasts of having defeated terrorism, but it cannot deal with the trade unions that deprive others of their legitimate rights.
It is hoped that the government committee tasked with settling the labour room dispute will act impartially and find a solution after carefully studying the issue at hand and listening to all stakeholders without being intimidated by the trade unions flexing their muscles. It looks as if the health sector needed a permanent committee to handle labour disputes.
