.To work 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m., says JAC
The Joint Action Committee (JAC), the umbrella body of unions in the University College Hospital (UCH), Ibadan, has said that members of staff of the hospital would from Tuesday, April 2, 2024work between 8.00 a.m. and 4.00 p.m. daily until power is restored in the hospital.
Chairman of the committee, Oludayo Olabampe, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), yesterday, in Ibadan.
Olabampe, who stated that the hospital had been without electricity since March 19, 2024, said that it would be dangerous to attend to patients in that situation.
He said: “We held a meeting with the management this morning but the issue is that there is no electricity. So, from today, Tuesday, April 2, 2024, we will work until 4.00 p.m. We are not attending to any patient after 4.00 p.m.
“This means that we won’t admit patients because the nurses that will take care of them will not be available after 4.00 p.m., and you don’t expect patientsto be on their own from 4.00 p.m. till 8.00 a.m. the following day.
“If patients need blood tests, the laboratory will not work. If they need radiography, the radiographers will not work. The dieticians in charge of their food toowill not work after 4.00 p.m.
“We also gave the management another 14-day ultimatum and if after 14 days, power is not restored, we will embarkon seven days warning strike.”
Reacting to the move, the UCH Chief Medical Director (CMD), Prof. Jesse Otegbayo, said the union did not officially write to the management before taking such decision.
“I have not heard about that. If they are going to do that, they should write to the management officially and the management will respond.
“There are rules that govern government service. You can’t just decide what hours to work and expect to be paid full time.
“If they go ahead to do such without informing the management officially, the management has a way of applying the rules to pay them for the number of hours which they worked.
“The proper thing is for them to put it in writing because they didn’t write officially to the management before taking the decision,” Otegbayo said.
