Kerala: Nurses restive over wage order delay

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Members of the United Nurses Association (UNA) has urged the labour department to expedite  the process of implementing revised wages notified by the government on April 23. The union leaders said they would organise a long march to Thiruvnanthapuram if the private managements tried to derail the implementation of revised wages.  The association decision comes in the wake of private hospitals management association move to get the revised wages order stayed.

The association leaders said they had filed petitions before the High Court and Supreme Court to counter the arguments being made by the management to deprive the nurses of their revised wages. The association has sought court’s intervention in getting reinstated the allowances and other benefits which had been cut by the government.

It demanded that the managements should either pay Rs 20,000 minimum wages to trainee nurses or completely abolish the trainee system which was highly exploitative. The association leaders claimed that some of the managements had agreed to pay the revised wages and assured to implement it from this month itself.  UNA plans to publish the names of hospitals which have agreed to implement the revised salary on its official website and also of those managements which fail to grant the wages.

Meanwhile, Labour Minister T.P. Ramakrishnan reiterated that the Government was committed to implement  minimum wages for nurses. “We are open to the suggestions and demands raised by nurses association. The government will give priority for implementing the wages notified last month,” he added. The government had on April 23 revised the wages of nurses working in private hospitals by notifying six categories for different salary slabs. The notification issued by Labour Commissioner fixed Rs 20,000 as minimum wages for nurses working in all private hospitals. 

The following slab were fixed for different categories; hospitals with bed strength from 1 to 100 – Rs 20,000. Those working in hospitals having bed strength of 101-300 would get Rs 22,000 plus allowance, 301-500 bed strength Rs 24,000 allowances,  501 to 700 – Rs 26,000 plus allowance, 701-800 – Rs 28,000 plus allowance and over 800 bed strength - Rs 30,000.  The revised wages are to be implemented with retrospective effect from October 1, 2017.